Drake & Scull International (DSI) surged to a three-month high as investors bought up shares in Dubai's second-biggest contractor in anticipation of better than expected quarterly results.
The movement comes as Arabtec Holding, the emirate's biggest contracting company, reported a net loss of Dh11.6 million in the second quarter, compared with a profit of Dh73m in the corresponding period last year.
Drake & Scull's shares jumped 4.3 per cent to 93 fils, their highest level since April 26, on the Dubai Financial Market. By contrast, Arabtec fell 3.9 per cent to Dh2.90.
"DSI had underperformed Arabtec and now that we see weakness in Arabtec results, it appears that the drivers that had been there played out, with investors switching back to DSI," said Saleem Khokhar, the head of equities at National Bank of Abu Dhabi.
The Dubai Financial Market General Index was little changed, down 0.02 per cent, to 1,556.41.
Aldar Properties advanced 0.8 per cent to Dh1.23 on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange.
The Yas Island developer held its board of directors meeting yesterday after markets closed to discuss its results.
The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index added 0.1 per cent to 2,514.45.
Elsewhere in the region, Kuwait's measure added 0.05 per cent to 5,711.28. Bahrain's index slipped 1.4 per cent to 1,074.68 while Oman's MSM 30 Index was little changed, up 0.07 per cent, to 5,437.38. Qatar's QE Index gained 0.4 per cent to 8,402.19.
The Saudi Tadawul All-Share Index closed 0.11 per cent at 6,953.59.
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