Dubai’s main stock index continued its rollercoaster ride on Tuesday after investors ditched shares to book profit following a three-day 27 per cent gain.
Emaar Properties, the biggest publicly traded real estate company in the emirate, and Dubai Islamic Bank, the largest Sharia-compliant lender, led the drop.
The DFM General Index slipped 3.4 per cent to 3,719.44, while in the capital the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange Index decreased 0.2 per cent to 4,470.15.
Emaar dropped 5.9 per cent to Dh7.37, while Dubai Islamic Bank shed 3.3 per cent to Dh6.5.
In Abu Dhabi, the property developer Aldar declined 4 per cent to Dh2.62 and National Bank of Abu Dhabi, the second biggest lender by market capitalisation in the UAE, decreased 1.5 per cent to Dh13.25.
Dubai’s stock index has seen spectacular volatility in the past two weeks amid a crash in the price of oil, to which the fortunes of the UAE and many Arabian Gulf countries are tied to.
After sliding into a bear market last week, the Dubai measure bounced back into a bull market following a record 13 per cent gain on Thursday.
So far this week, the Dubai measure has gained 8 per cent.
Still, fund managers and analysts say the violent ups and down are likely to continue for as long as the bottom for oil remains unclear. That will allow analysts to gauge what the impact of lower crude prices will have on company earnings.
Brent crude traded higher Tuesday afternoon, rising as much as 1 per cent to $60.68 a barrel.
mkassem@thenational.ae
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