Dubai's main equity benchmark rose for the seventh consecutive session yesterday, making it the world's best performing stock exchange so far this year. The property developer Emaar led gains.
The emirate's key measure has rallied 10 per cent in the past week to bring its overall gains this year to 29 per cent, the best performing measure of primary equity indexes tracked by Bloomberg. Shares of Emaar have gained 29 per cent, too, mostly since the company announced on March 15 its intention to press ahead with long considered plans to list 25 per cent of its retail and malls division.
“The most important driver was Emaar planning to IPO some of their recurring revenue from their retail and hospitality and paying a special dividend from that IPO,” said Simon Kitchen, a Cairo-based strategist at the Egyptian investment bank EFG-Hermes. “The UAE’s relative safety in emerging markets has also helped.”
Dubai's stock measure more than doubled in value last year as the UAE's economy grew more than 4 per cent. The UAE has also emerged as safe haven in the developing world universe because of its strong economic fundamentals, such as a current-account surplus and a US-dollar pegged currency. The benchmark MSCI Emerging Market Index has dropped 5.8 per cent this year amid turmoil in countries including Russia and Turkey.
While some money managers, such as BlackRock, have voiced concern about overheated valuations in the UAE, Mr Kitchen said EFG-Hermes remained upbeat on the Emirates. The bank had a positive outlook on Emaar and bank stocks, but Mr Kitchen warned there may be volatility ahead because of stock purchases made on borrowed money, a popular activity among retail investors in the region.
“One thing you have to keep an eye out on is the high level of turnover in the market, and there’s also quite a bit of margin lending, which means that you would expect these markets to be volatile and we may continue to see that,” he said.
mkassem@thenational.ae
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Ruwais timeline
1971 Abu Dhabi National Oil Company established
1980 Ruwais Housing Complex built, located 10 kilometres away from industrial plants
1982 120,000 bpd capacity Ruwais refinery complex officially inaugurated by the founder of the UAE Sheikh Zayed
1984 Second phase of Ruwais Housing Complex built. Today the 7,000-unit complex houses some 24,000 people.
1985 The refinery is expanded with the commissioning of a 27,000 b/d hydro cracker complex
2009 Plans announced to build $1.2 billion fertilizer plant in Ruwais, producing urea
2010 Adnoc awards $10bn contracts for expansion of Ruwais refinery, to double capacity from 415,000 bpd
2014 Ruwais 261-outlet shopping mall opens
2014 Production starts at newly expanded Ruwais refinery, providing jet fuel and diesel and allowing the UAE to be self-sufficient for petrol supplies
2014 Etihad Rail begins transportation of sulphur from Shah and Habshan to Ruwais for export
2017 Aldar Academies to operate Adnoc’s schools including in Ruwais from September. Eight schools operate in total within the housing complex.
2018 Adnoc announces plans to invest $3.1 billion on upgrading its Ruwais refinery
2018 NMC Healthcare selected to manage operations of Ruwais Hospital
2018 Adnoc announces new downstream strategy at event in Abu Dhabi on May 13
Source: The National
Results
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Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
The biog
Name: Younis Al Balooshi
Nationality: Emirati
Education: Doctorate degree in forensic medicine at the University of Bonn
Hobbies: Drawing and reading books about graphic design
THE BIO: Martin Van Almsick
Hometown: Cologne, Germany
Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)
Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes
Favourite hobby: Football
Breakfast routine: a tall glass of camel milk
<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html" charset="UTF-8" /></head><body><!--PSTYLE=* Labels%3aFH Label 18 Sport--><p>Beach soccer</p><!--PSTYLE=BY Byline--><p>Amith Passela</p><p /></body></html>
Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
How does ToTok work?
The calling app is available to download on Google Play and Apple App Store
To successfully install ToTok, users are asked to enter their phone number and then create a nickname.
The app then gives users the option add their existing phone contacts, allowing them to immediately contact people also using the application by video or voice call or via message.
Users can also invite other contacts to download ToTok to allow them to make contact through the app.
Scoreline
Chelsea 1
Azpilicueta (36')
West Ham United 1
Hernandez (73')
Dolittle
Director: Stephen Gaghan
Stars: Robert Downey Jr, Michael Sheen
One-and-a-half out of five stars
