Shares in Dubai and Abu Dhabi underperformed their Arabian Gulf peers yesterday, as higher oil prices boosted most regional bourses.
Brent crude futures surged by as much as 3.3 per cent yesterday, trading at about US$52.30 a barrel in the late afternoon, after Saudi Arabia and Russia said that they favoured prolonging curbs on production until early-2018.
The Dubai Financial Market General Index had its sharpest fall in three weeks, closing 1.1 per cent lower at 3,377.82, as demand for Arabtec Holding’s rights issue prompted investors to sell down other positions. The rights issue, which opened for subscription yesterday at below the current share price, had high volumes as day traders piled in, searching for easy profits.
“Speculators shifted some positions to actively trade the rights during the session, which placed some pressure on the liquid names,” said Hani Konquar, the team leader for Mena equity sales and trading at Mubasher Financial Services in Dubai.
Arabtec Holding surged by as much as 6.8 per cent in early trading, before closing down 0.1 per cent at 76.2 fils.
Emirates NBD and DXB Entertainments led the sell-off of big names, finishing down 3.6 per cent and 5.6 per cent respectively. Emaar Properties, which reported a 15 per cent rise in first quarter profits on Sunday evening, closed 0.5 per cent lower at Dh7.42.
Shares in Abu Dhabi closed 0.6 per cent down at 4,564.31, dragged by First Abu Dhabi Bank, ADCB and Etisalat.
The Qatar Exchange led gains across the region, finishing 0.6 per cent.
In Saudi Arabia, the Tadawul also finished up by 0.6 per cent, led by NCB, Sabic and Dar Al Arkan.
jeverington@thenational.ae
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Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
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A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
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The specs
Engine: 0.8-litre four cylinder
Power: 70bhp
Torque: 66Nm
Transmission: four-speed manual
Price: $1,075 new in 1967, now valued at $40,000
On sale: Models from 1966 to 1970
US households add $601bn of debt in 2019
American households borrowed another $601 billion (Dh2.2bn) in 2019, the largest yearly gain since 2007, just before the global financial crisis, according to February data from the New York Federal Reserve Bank.
Fuelled by rising mortgage debt as homebuyers continued to take advantage of low interest rates, the increase last year brought total household debt to a record high, surpassing the previous peak reached in 2008 just before the market crash, according to the report.
Following the 22nd straight quarter of growth, American household debt swelled to $14.15 trillion by the end of 2019, the New York Fed said in its quarterly report.
In the final three months of the year, new home loans jumped to their highest volume since the fourth quarter of 2005, while credit cards and auto loans also added to the increase.
The bad debt load is taking its toll on some households, and the New York Fed warned that more and more credit card borrowers — particularly young people — were falling behind on their payments.
"Younger borrowers, who are disproportionately likely to have credit cards and student loans as their primary form of debt, struggle more than others with on-time repayment," New York Fed researchers said.
Cricket World Cup League Two
Oman, UAE, Namibia
Al Amerat, Muscat
Results
Oman beat UAE by five wickets
UAE beat Namibia by eight runs
Fixtures
Wednesday January 8 –Oman v Namibia
Thursday January 9 – Oman v UAE
Saturday January 11 – UAE v Namibia
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
ULTRA PROCESSED FOODS
- Carbonated drinks, sweet or savoury packaged snacks, confectionery, mass-produced packaged breads and buns
- Margarines and spreads; cookies, biscuits, pastries, cakes, and cake mixes, breakfast cereals, cereal and energy bars
- Energy drinks, milk drinks, fruit yoghurts and fruit drinks, cocoa drinks, meat and chicken extracts and instant sauces
- Infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes
- Many ready-to-heat products including pre-prepared pies and pasta and pizza dishes, poultry and fish nuggets and sticks, sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and other reconstituted meat products, powdered and packaged instant soups, noodles and desserts
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh132,000 (Countryman)
Scores in brief:
Boost Defenders 205-5 in 20 overs
(Colin Ingram 84 not out, Cameron Delport 36, William Somerville 2-28)
bt Auckland Aces 170 for 5 in 20 overs
(Rob O’Donnell 67 not out, Kyle Abbott 3-21).
Du Football Champions
The fourth season of du Football Champions was launched at Gitex on Wednesday alongside the Middle East’s first sports-tech scouting platform.“du Talents”, which enables aspiring footballers to upload their profiles and highlights reels and communicate directly with coaches, is designed to extend the reach of the programme, which has already attracted more than 21,500 players in its first three years.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani