Dubai shares take biggest hit

Dubai shares declined the most among Gulf equities yesterday as investors locked in profits accumulated last week. The Dubai Financial Market General Index declined 1.4 per cent to 1,506.95 led by declines in property and construction stocks. Emaar Properties declined 3.5 per cent to Dh3.25 while Arabtec Holding retreated 4.9 per cent to Dh1.74. Deyaar and Union Properties both declined 1.2 per cent to 31 fils and 38 fils, respectively.

Shares of the bourse, traded as DFM Company, dropped 3.2 per cent to Dh1.47 after the company reported a 57 per cent loss in first-half profit. "Last week was generally good and we have seen strong retail participation in the market. Today, investors have booked profits but the mood is still positive in the market," said Chahir Hosni, the equities sales manager at EFG-Hermes in Dubai. Mr Hosni sees the market continuing the positive momentum from the past week and expects the "buyers to be back in the market, barring any major earnings surprise".

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index added 0.3 per cent to close at 2,558.65. Dana Gas, the energy investment firm, rose 1.2 per cent to 79 fils, while Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank advanced 1.1 per cent to Dh2.55. Waha Capital added 1.4 per cent to 68 fils despite reporting a 90 per cent drop in second-quarter earnings yesterday. Elsewhere in the region, Muscat added 0.8 per cent, while Kuwait and Qatar benchmark indexes gained 0.5 and 0.3 per cent, respectively. Bahrain shares closed 0.7 per cent lower while Saudi shares lost 0.2 per cent.