DP World was the focus of trading yesterday as its shares hit a two-year high after the company sold a US$1.5 billion stake in its Australian unit to repay debt.
Shares in the Dubai-controlled ports operator climbed 6.3 per cent to 64 US cents on NASDAQ Dubai, giving the company a market value of $10.6bn.
DP World said it planned to use the proceeds to repay borrowings.
The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) General Index closed 0.1 per cent down at 1,623.83 and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) General Index crept 0.05 per cent higher to 2,699.73. Despite the enthusiastic reaction to DP World's sale, it did not benefit other bourses.
"I don't think that the sale of the unit has affected the [DFM and ADX]," said Ameed Kanaan, the general manager at Al Jazeera Financial Services. "Our market is already tired and very weak, and not much news can change this."
Mr Kanaan said heavyweight stocks such as Emaar Properties could be susceptible to more profit-taking by the end of the year.
Emaar dropped 1.4 per cent to Dh3.44 on news that its Indian joint venture lost a court case related to its Commonwealth Games development. The building contractor Arabtec also slipped, by 1.02 per cent to Dh1.95. Deyaar Development bucked the trend, gaining 1.01 per cent to close at 30 fils.
In the capital, banking stocks slipped. National Bank of Abu Dhabi declined 0.8 per cent to Dh11.65, and RAK Bank fell almost 6 per cent to Dh4.6.
Elsewhere in the region: Qatar fell 0.1 per cent to 8,654.57; Kuwait rose 0.7 per cent to 6,865.80; Bahrain declined 1.1 per cent to 1,408.07; Oman rose 0.1 per cent to 6,718.81; and the Saudi Tadawul All-Share Index inched up 0.06 per cent to 6,609.53.
fhalime@thenational.ae
Teaching in coronavirus times
The specs: 2018 Mercedes-AMG C63 S Cabriolet
Price, base: Dh429,090
Engine 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission Seven-speed automatic
Power 510hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque 700Nm @ 1,750rpm
Fuel economy, combined 9.2L / 100km
TOUR DE FRANCE INFO
Dates: July 1-23
Distance: 3,540km
Stages: 21
Number of teams: 22
Number of riders: 198
The major Hashd factions linked to Iran:
Badr Organisation: Seen as the most militarily capable faction in the Hashd. Iraqi Shiite exiles opposed to Saddam Hussein set up the group in Tehran in the early 1980s as the Badr Corps under the supervision of the Iran Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The militia exalts Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei but intermittently cooperated with the US military.
Saraya Al Salam (Peace Brigade): Comprised of former members of the officially defunct Mahdi Army, a militia that was commanded by Iraqi cleric Moqtada Al Sadr and fought US and Iraqi government and other forces between 2004 and 2008. As part of a political overhaul aimed as casting Mr Al Sadr as a more nationalist and less sectarian figure, the cleric formed Saraya Al Salam in 2014. The group’s relations with Iran has been volatile.
Kataeb Hezbollah: The group, which is fighting on behalf of the Bashar Al Assad government in Syria, traces its origins to attacks on US forces in Iraq in 2004 and adopts a tough stance against Washington, calling the United States “the enemy of humanity”.
Asaeb Ahl Al Haq: An offshoot of the Mahdi Army active in Syria. Asaeb Ahl Al Haq’s leader Qais al Khazali was a student of Mr Al Moqtada’s late father Mohammed Sadeq Al Sadr, a prominent Shiite cleric who was killed during Saddam Hussein’s rule.
Harakat Hezbollah Al Nujaba: Formed in 2013 to fight alongside Mr Al Assad’s loyalists in Syria before joining the Hashd. The group is seen as among the most ideological and sectarian-driven Hashd militias in Syria and is the major recruiter of foreign fighters to Syria.
Saraya Al Khorasani: The ICRG formed Saraya Al Khorasani in the mid-1990s and the group is seen as the most ideologically attached to Iran among Tehran’s satellites in Iraq.
(Source: The Wilson Centre, the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation)
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
THE TWIN BIO
Their favourite city: Dubai
Their favourite food: Khaleeji
Their favourite past-time : walking on the beach
Their favorite quote: ‘we rise by lifting others’ by Robert Ingersoll
