UAE equity markets closed marginally weaker yesterday as investors shied away from riskier asset classes because of a slew of negative regional and international news.
“There’s lots of negative news, both internationally and regionally,” said Tariq Qaqish, the head of asset management at Al Mal Capital in Dubai.
Cash-strapped Greece must put forward a compromise with creditors at an emergency meeting today to receive €10 billion to avert a financial disaster that puts the single currency bloc at risk.
Closer to the region, the credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s on Monday issued negative outlooks for GCC oil-producing economies after lower crude l prices. The agency lowered Saudi Arabia’s outlook to “negative” from “stable”, but reaffirmed its long-term rating of AA-/A-1. It downgraded Bahrain to BBB-/A-3 from BBB/A-2, while it cut Oman to A-/A-2 from A/A-1.
S&P, however, kept its ratings on Abu Dhabi at AA/A-1+, citing that the economy is expected to be “resilient and its fiscal policy will remain prudent”.
Banks led the declines on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange. National Bank of Abu Dhabi lost 1 per cent to Dh13.8 a share. Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank was down 1.2 per cent to Dh7.2. RAK Bank dropped 5 per cent to Dh8.
The benchmark index in the capital closed flat at 4,627.91 points.
The Dubai Financial Market General Index lost 0.2 per cent to 3,931.16.
Property developers led the declines on the Dubai Financial Market. Dubai Parks & Resorts lost 1.9 per cent to 77 fils. Deyaar Development declined 1.2 per cent to 79 fils. Emaar Properties slipped 0.1 per cent to Dh7.32.
halsayegh@thenational.ae
Follow The National's Business section on Twitter