Shares in Dubai fell to their lowest this month yesterday, erasing a rebound from lows reached earlier in the week after the UAE and Qatar failed to secure an upgrade from MSCI, the index provider.
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The Dubai Financial Market General Index fell 0.9 per cent to 1,360.80, while the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange lost 0.8 per cent to 2,373.11, the seventh consecutive day of losses.
Last Thursday, MSCI declined to upgrade the UAE and Qatar to "emerging-markets" status, sparking a sell-off on the Emirates markets.
But a rebound on Dubai's market was wiped out yesterday after stocks in the emirate fell sharply. Leading the declines were Emirates NBD and Arabtec, which lost 5.1 per cent to Dh1.65 and snapped a three-day streak of gains. "Arabtec has been outperforming aggressively lately so this correction is very expected, and is even softer than the rally," Chahir Hosni, an equity sales manager at EFG-Hermes Holding, told Bloomberg News.
"Also we're approaching the end of the year so I don't imagine there are a lot of institutions that would want to take any risk in the remaining 10 days."
Etisalat, National Bank of Abu Dhabi and First Gulf Bank led the drop on the capital's market.
Volumes recovered on both markets as sentiment improved on world markets.
Crude oil rose sharply, with Brent crude futures rising US$1.69 to $106.03 per barrel. Gold rose 0.5 per cent to $1,604.80.
Qatar and Kuwait bourses rose, while Oman and Bahrain's stocks fell. The Saudi Tadawul rose slightly.
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