Dubai Financial Market rally grinds to a halt

Dubai’s rally came to an abrupt end on Sunday, with stocks registering their sharpest fall in four weeks.

The Dubai Financial Market General Index ended the day down 2.3 per cent at 4,132.46, as retail investors booked gains after the market’s rally last week.

“Recently we’ve been sitting at the top of the range of the recent rally, and technically it’s now run out of steam,” said Julian Bruce, the head of institutional trading at EFG Hermes in Dubai.

“We’re probably going to see domestic investors continue to take money off the table in the coming days, while foreign accounts will be absent for a few days because of public holidays.”

Blue chip property stocks were among the worst affected in the absence of foreign bids. Arabtec Holding closed 4.73 per cent lower at Dh2.82, while Emaar Properties shed 3.64 per cent at Dh7.94.

In the capital, the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index started the day on course for its best performance in a week, before erasing gains in the final hour of trading. It closed down 0.11 per cent at 4,641.85.

RAK Properties was among the loss leaders in the capital. Its shares shed 5.33 per cent after the developer revealed a 65 per cent fall in profits for the first quarter.

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