Du leaps 14% at Dubai Financial Market's close

Markets Update: Many oil producing Gulf countries closed down yesterday as China, one of the world's biggest consumers of crude, announced it grew less than in the first quarter than the same time last year.

Saudi petrochemical companies reported lower earnings. AP Photo

Du jumped more than 14 per cent in the final minutes of trading yesterday in Dubai, an event analysts said was likely to be a trading error.

The stock closed with a surge to Dh3.63 on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) General Index after being flat during the day.

"It's probably a trade error," said Marwan Shurrab, the chief trader at Gulfmena Investments in Dubai. "The volume wasn't that big. The broker may have accidentally made an order for Dh3.90 as opposed to Dh3.60."

Stocks on the DFM can increase by no more than 15 per cent in a trading session. Du traded at a higher-than-usual volume, according to Reuters data, with 3.8 million shares traded on the day compared with a 30-day, full-day average of 3.36 million.

The DFM General Index closed down 0.21 per cent at 1,675.15.

Markets in some oil producing countries in the Gulf closed down yesterday after China, one of the world's biggest consumers of crude, announced its economy grew less in the first quarter than the same time last year, and some Saudi petrochemical companies reported lower earnings.

The Saudi Tadawul closed down 2.34 per cent at 7,348.33. The index has dropped 5.82 per cent since March 31.

In the same time, the price of a barrel of Brent crude has dropped 2.87 per cent.

Advanced Petrochemical Companies, a Saudi oil-derived polypropylene manufacturer, was among the biggest fallers, losing 11 per cent on the day to close at 27.50 riyals a share.

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index fell 0.43 per cent to 2,512.27. The FTSE Nasdaq Dubai UAE 20 Index closed at 1,703.10, down 1.5 per cent from the previous close.

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