Gulf markets mostly rose yesterday as investors bought stocks to improve the performance of funds at year-end - a practice known as "window dressing".
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The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index jumped 1.5 per cent to 2,402.28 points, while the Dubai Financial Market General Index rose 0.5 per cent to 1,353.39.
Stocks were also lifted as Aldar Properties, Abu Dhabi's largest developer, said it was selling assets to the Abu Dhabi Government for Dh16.8 billion.
The ratings agency Moody's Investors Service deemed the transaction "credit positive".
"The agreement further augments the financial support that Aldar has already received from the Government of Abu Dhabi as well as from Mubadala, an Abu Dhabi Government investment arm which owns a 49 per cent stake in Aldar, under an agreement reached in January this year also involving property assets as well as financial support," Moody's said.
Property and construction stocks in Dubai also rose. Emaar Properties, the region's largest developer, was up 0.7 per cent at Dh2.57. Drake & Scull International, Dubai's second-biggest contractor, jumped 2.4 per cent to 79 fils.
Elsewhere in the region, Kuwait's measure rose 0.4 per cent to 5,814.2 and Oman's gained 0.2 per cent to close at 5,695.12. Stock markets in Bahrain and Qatar slipped 0.1 per cent and 0.3 per cent to 1,143.69 and 8,779.03, respectively. Saudi Arabia's Tadawul All-Share Index was closed yesterday.
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