DSI starts the year rising

Drake & Scull International reflected a spirited start to the UAE's first day of trading as it jumped to a 15-month high.

Drake & Scull International (DSI) hit a 15-month high as speculation that the company would win contracts in the next few months fuelled investor sentiment towards the stock on the first day of trading this year.

The engineering and contracting company rose 5.7 per cent to Dh1.10, one of the top performances on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) General Index, where it was the most actively traded stock by volume at 34.4 million.

DSI is one of several UAE firms expected to benefit from Qatar's selection to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

"DSI should retest its all-time high at 1.22 during the first quarter, with a 60 per cent chance to advance to Dh1.35," said Amjad Bakir, a fund manager at Wafa Financial Services in Abu Dhabi.

Other property stocks across the UAE climbed to new highs as investors bought into the sector. Emaar Properties rose 0.8 per cent to Dh3.58.

Arabtec was one of the most actively traded stocks by volume at nearly 25 million shares.

The building contractor jumped 3.5 per cent to Dh2.04.

Aldar Properties also had a spirited start to the year, climbing 2.2 per cent to Dh2.33 on the Abu Dhabi Securities (ADX) Exchange General Index.

Sorouh Real Estate rose 1.2 per cent to Dh1.65 and RAK Properties increased 2.3 per cent to 45 fils.

The ADX rose 0.8 per cent to 2,741.15 and the DFM climbed 2.3 per cent to 1,668.27 points, the most in three weeks.

Qatar rose 0.7 per cent to 8,741.50; Oman advanced 0.7 per cent to 6,805.77; Kuwait slipped 0.1 per cent to 6,955.50; Bahrain rose 0.3 per cent to 1,432.26 and the Saudi Tadawul slipped 0.03 per cent to 6,656.35.