Dubai stocks entered a second bear market since May, with blue chips leading the slide on Monday.
The Dubai Financial Market General Index declined 3.3 per cent to 4,030.79 points on the back of a 7.04 per cent drop in Emaar Properties to Dh8.3 a share. The Burj Khalifa developer has a weighting of more than 18 per cent on the DFM index.
Arabtec, the largest construction contractor, lost 2.9 per cent to Dh3.5 a share.
Shuaa Capital shed 3.1 per cent of its value to Dh0.7 a share. The financial services company on Sunday announced that Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Al Maktoum, the executive chairman who has led the company’s turnaround, will step down in February. “There’s wider concern about the ramifications of the weaker oil price on economies in the region,” Saleem Khokhar, the head of equities at NBAD Asset Management Group, told Bloomberg News. “Quite a few investors were holding Emaar for its dividend payment and sold it after the deadline last week.”
In the capital, shares declined, but to a lesser extent. The Abu Dhabi Securities Market General Index fell 0.8 per cent to 4,676.34.
* with Bloomberg News
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