Telecoms and banking push Abu Dhabi's bourse upwards

Markets Update: Dubai's market reversed gains as investors booked profits on banking and property stocks but Abu Dhabi stocks rise.

Dubai's market reversed gains that yesterday saw the exchange mark its entry into a bull market, after rebounding more than 20 percent from a six-year low.

The Dubai Financial Market fell 0.5 per cent to 1,640.43 points as banking and property stocks dragged on the exchange and investors booked profits.

Emaar Properties, the builder of the world's largest tower, the Burj Khalifa lost 0.9 per cent to Dh3.40, Arabtec dropped 1.9 per cent to Dh1.53 and Dubai Islamic Bank fell 0.9 per cent to Dh2.19.

Mark Mobius, of Templeton Asset Management, who oversees about $54 billion (Dh 198bn), said the UAE was entering another "up" phase.

"It's going to be a bumpy ride in many places but the trends are very positive," he said at a roundtable in Dubai yesterday. He said he counts Orascom Telecom and Saudi Basic Industries Corporation among his frontier market fund's top holdings.

Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange rose 0.4 per cent to 2,709.39 points.

Etisalat, the telecoms giant and Union National Bank were early gainers as they rose 0.4 per cent to Dh10.45 and 0.6 per cent to Dh3.21 respectively.

Egypt's benchmark index, the EGX 30, closed down 3.4 per cent at 5,118.31 points yesterday as investors remained edgy about companies that may have benefited from the former regime.

Citadel Capital, the Egyptian private equity firm, yesterday shed 10 per cent of its value at 4.68 Egyptian pounds on allegations it acquired a cement maker at a cheaper price from the government, a charge the company denies.

Shares of EFG Hermes were also under fire as board member and head of brokerage, Sherif Cararah, resigned, Reuters reported.

The move was said to have been long planned but still hit the share price of the country's biggest investment bank.

It ended 10 per cent lower at 18.72 Egyptian pounds yesterday as Goldman Sachs cut the price target of the bank to 23.5 pounds, from 35.1 pounds.