Dubai stocks rose sharply in trading yesterday after economic data boosted investor optimism and fuelled a global equity rally over the weekend.
Arabtec, the bourse's biggest contracting firm, jumped 5.2 per cent to Dh4.41 a share. The developer Emaar Properties advanced 1.9 per cent to Dh10.50 a share.
The Dubai Financial Market General Index gained 2.5 per cent to 4,689.12 points.
US markets were boosted after quarterly earnings from big corporates such as Caterpillar and Yahoo beat analysts’ expectations. US stocks were buoyed further after government statistics showed that fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits over the past month than at any time in 14 years. The S&P 500 advanced 0.7 per cent, bringing its total weekly gain to 4.1 per cent and closing at 1,964.58 points on Friday.
“We have seen a nice recovery come through in the US,” said Saleem Khokhar, the head of equities at National Bank of Abu Dhabi. “The results season is under way and there have been good results. But also, the overriding factor here is the expectation of interest rates being pushed back. The market was looking at early 2015, but now the consensus is late 2016. Of course that will have a big impact across the globe.”
The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index rose 0.8 per cent to 4,870.06 points.
halsayegh@thenational.ae
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