Trading in Dubai was lacklustre yesterday in the absence of catalysts, with the stock index closing flat.
The Dubai Financial Market General Index was up a mere 0.02 per cent to 4,626.05 points. Ten stocks advanced, 13 stocks declined and nine were unchanged at the close.
Arabtec, the biggest contracting firm, rose 1.8 per cent to Dh4.36 per share. Emaar Properties slipped 0.4 per cent to Dh10.35 and AjmanBank added 0.4 per cent to Dh2.30.
“It was quite a boring session,” said Sebastien Henin, the head of asset management at The National Investor, an Abu Dhabi-based investment bank. “International markets were quite flat. On the oil front there was nothing new, and when it comes to the local earnings results there were no major surprises. There were no reasons to move one way or another.”
The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index mirrored Dubai, rising 0.09 per cent to 4,898.34 .
Eshraq Properties jumped 4.5 per cent to Dh1.14 amid low volumes. Finance House and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank slumped 4.7 per cent and 2.1 per cent respectively, also on thin volumes.
“I think the decent corporate earnings so far have been very supportive to the market. If you look at Europe today it’s up more than 1.5 per cent, so it created support to the local market,” said Tariq Qaqish, the head of asset management at Al Mal Capital, a Dubai-based investment bank.
“But at the same time investors are cautious and looking towards what will happen during the US Fed Reserve meeting tomorrow. That’s why you don’t see a lot of trading. The meeting is expected to shed light on the QE decision.”
halsayegh@thenational.ae
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