Abu Dhabi's biggest property developer was a bright spot on the capital's bourse as investors traded on speculation its first-quarter results would outperform expectations. Last Updated: May 05, 2011 <strong>Aabar takes $1bn stake in Glencore flotation</strong> Abu Dhabi's investment vehicle, Aabar, has become the largest participant in the initial public offering of commodities giant Glencore. <a href="http://www.thenational.ae/business/energy/aabar-takes-1bn-stake-in-glencore-flotation">Read article</a> <strong>Right time for Aabar's move</strong> Glencore's flotation is an ambitious move by the Swiss commodities trading giant to flex its muscles further and tap into booming commodities prices. <a href="http://www.thenational.ae/business/energy/right-time-for-aabars-move">Read article</a> <strong>Cashing in on bin Laden's death </strong>Retailers and analysts in the UAE are expecting high demand for new books, films and video games about bin Laden. <a href="http://www.thenational.ae/business/retail/cashing-in-on-bin-ladens-death">Read article</a> <strong>Hedge funds regain their status - and $2tn </strong>Industry Insights // Louis Gargour, the founder of LNG Capital, a fixed-income firm specialising in European credit, talks about his approach to investing and his view of the markets - with video. <a href="http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/industry-insights/finance/hedge-funds-regain-their-status-and-2tn">Read article</a> <strong>Property sales up and down </strong>Dubai estate agents are disputing data showing a 50 per cent decline in home sales in the first quarter. <a href="http://www.thenational.ae/featured-content/channel-page/business/property/property-sales-up-and-down">Read article</a> Shares in <a href="gopher://topicL3RoZW5hdGlvbmFsL09yZ2FuaXNhdGlvbnMvQ29tcGFuaWVzL1VBRSBjb21wYW5pZXMvQWxkYXI=" inlink="topic::L3RoZW5hdGlvbmFsL09yZ2FuaXNhdGlvbnMvQ29tcGFuaWVzL1VBRSBjb21wYW5pZXMvQWxkYXI=">Aldar Properties</a> rose as much as 3.2 per cent on intraday trading before investors booked profits, bringing down the share price to Dh1.59 from a high of Dh1.63. The board of directors will meet today to review and release the financial statements for the quarter. "Liquidity inflow has increased on Aldar Properties's shares in the past few days as retail investors are making a bet that profits from the infrastructure sale will be realised in the first quarter," said Hassan el Salah, the head of institutional equities at AlRamz Securities. The infrastructure sale Mr el Salah referred to is the developer's assets on Yas Island. The country's main indexes were mixed on lukewarm trading as investors kept cash in reserve ahead of a possible upgrade of the UAE to emerging markets status by index benchmarker MSCI. The UAE is currently considered a frontier market. Manuel Rensink, the Middle East and North Africa head at MSCI, said at a conference in Abu Dhabi yesterday the upgrading process was moving at a positive pace. The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index was up 0.3 per cent to 2,699.88, while the Dubai Financial Market General Index slipped 0.7 per cent to 1,618.23. "The mood feels like summer trading," said Fadi al Said, a senior fund manager at ING Investment Management in Dubai. "The only exciting thing to watch for is the MSCI. On the other hand, the market isn't negative."
