UAE stocks rose for the fourth straight day as investors continued to take cheer from buoyant fourth-quarter earnings and dividends that are being proposed by companies and banks.
Emaar Properties and Emaar Malls led gains in Dubai, rising 1.5 per cent to Dh7.58 and 0.8 per cent to Dh2.58, respectively, while FGB and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank spearheaded the advance in Abu Dhabi, rising 1.5 per cent to Dh13.3 and 1 per cent to Dh7.43.
The Abu Dhabi Securities Market General Index rose 0.6 per cent to 4,574.2, bringing the benchmark index’s gains this week to 2.9 per cent.
Meanwhile, the Dubai Financial Market General Index rose by 0.2 per cent, bringing its advance this week to 2.8 per cent.
“Today we saw buying appetite coming into the market closer to the end of the session with some heavy weight banks and real estate stocks closing near session highs,” said Hani Konquar, the head of Middle East and Africa for sales and trading at Mubasher Financial Services, a Dubai-based brokerage.
“Over the past few sessions, we have been seeing a shift towards the dividend-paying quality stocks, along with inflows into companies that reported a positive surprise or are soon expected to be reporting positive fourth-quarter results.”
Emaar Properties has yet to report earnings, but its unit Emaar Malls, which operates The Dubai Mall, said on January 31 that its fourth-quarter profit rose 4 per cent.
Also last month the Abu Dhabi-based lender FGB proposed a payout of Dh1 per share after its annual profit rose slightly to Dh6.03 billion in 2016.
mkassem@thenational.ae
Follow The National's Business section on Twitter
