Emaar, the Arab world's largest property developer, saw its stock drop to a 12 month low at the closing bell, continuing a slide that began at the beginning of this year, when it peaked at Dh15.70 (US$4.27) on Jan 6. The share price has fallen about 37 per cent since then, and closed at Dh9. Emaar reported healthy profits last month for the first half of the year, but was cited in a Morgan Stanley report released last week, which warned that the UAE's property market was overheated and could contract in some sectors by as much as ten per cent.
The stock's fall comes amid a general decline for shares in the GCC. The Dubai Financial Market and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, the UAE's two main exchanges, both extended losing streaks; the DFM was down for the seventh straight day, or 6.7 per cent. It closed at 5043.74, from an opening of 5410.23. Abu Dhabi had its eighth red day, having slid 10.9 per cent. It closed at 4474.11, after opening at 4976.15
afitch@thenational.ae