Dubai stocks edged lower on Sunday as declining oil prices stoked worries among fund managers that foreign investors might look to sell local shares.
Brent’s future contract for January settlement touched US$79.41 on Friday after closing at $77.49 on Thursday.
Stocks could experience profit-taking when foreign investors operating in international markets begin the work week on Monday, said Sebastien Henin, head of asset management at The National Investor, an Abu Dhabi-based boutique investment bank.
“We’ve seen oil prices only go in one way, which is down. There has been no respite,” Mr Henin said. “I won’t be surprised if we see international players taking money back from the table, even if they like the economic story. I am not optimistic.”
Emaar Properties, the developer behind Burj Khalifa, lost 1.8 per cent to close at Dh10.80 a share. Arabtec slumped 5.8 per cent to Dh4.02 a share after profits at Dubai’s biggest contracting company fell on higher expenses.
Traded value on the two stocks accounted for more than half of trading in the overall market. Arabtec and Emaar traded about Dh567.3 million, whereas the market traded about Dh1.06 billion.
The Dubai Financial Market General Index slipped 1.1 per cent to 4,602.86 points.
The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index was up 0.2 per cent to 4,963.21 on low volumes.
Shares in Qatar climbed for a second day after soccer’s governing body Fifa ruled out any significant irregularities in the nation’s bid to stage the 2022 World Cup, Bloomberg News reported.
While Fifa’s ethics committee found some irregularities, the violations weren’t enough to reopen the process, according to a summary report. Qatar plans to spend $200 billion building stadiums, roads, railroads and even a new city before it hosts the tournament.
Fifa’s announcement “indicates that all that money announced and committed to build stadiums and infrastructure to host the event will now be spent,” Tariq Qaqish, the head of asset management at Dubai-based Al Mal Capital, said by email. “Investors will be more confident about their medium- to long-term investments in Qatari stocks.”
halsayegh@thenational.ae
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The specs: 2019 Mini Cooper
Price, base: Dh141,740 (three-door) / Dh165,900 (five-door)
Engine: 1.5-litre four-cylinder (Cooper) / 2.0-litre four-cylinder (Cooper S)
Power: 136hp @ 4,500rpm (Cooper) / 192hp @ 5,000rpm (Cooper S)
Torque: 220Nm @ 1,480rpm (Cooper) / 280Nm @ 1,350rpm (Cooper S)
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 4.8L to 5.4L / 100km
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ERobert%20Lorenz%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Liam%20Neeson%2C%20Kerry%20Condon%2C%20Jack%20Gleeson%2C%20Ciaran%20Hinds%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Brief scores:
Day 1
Toss: South Africa, field first
Pakistan (1st innings) 177: Sarfraz 56, Masood 44; Olivier 4-48
South Africa (1st innings) 123-2: Markram 78; Masood 1-4
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Defence review at a glance
• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”
• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems
• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.
• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%
• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade
• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels
