UAE stocks slip after Eid holiday

No clear direction to the market as the DFM closes down 0.8 per cent.

Dubai stocks edged lower on Tuesday as investors exited positions in the market after the Eid holidays.

“Most of the investors are out, many waited till after Eid to travel,” said Nabil Rantisi, the managing director of brokerage at Abu Dhabi’s Mena Corp. “There’s no clear direction in the market and things are a little bit slow.”

On the Dubai Financial Market, Emaar Properties declined 1.5 per cent to Dh9.99 yesterday despite reporting a 29 per cent rise in second-quarter profit.

Arabtec declined 2 per cent to Dh4.21 after former chief executive Hasan Ismaik continued to reduce his shareholding in the company. On Monday his stake dropped to 28.17 per cent from 28.37 per cent.

Union Properties fell 1.3 per cent to Dh2.13, while Deyaar Development jumped 2.4 per cent to Dh1.28.

The Dubai Financial Market General Index closed 0.8 per cent lower at 2,842.82 points, while the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index was down 0.4 per cent at 4,962.72 points.

Separately, the Dubai bourse gave margin licences to five new brokerages yesterday – Al Safwa Islamic Financial Services, Global for Shares & Bonds, Al Fardan Financial Services, Al Brooge Securities and Al Sharhan Stock Centre. The number of stock brokerages licensed to offer leverage to clients has stands at 24.

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