Dubai: The Dubai index rose more than a per cent on Thursday, recovering from their lowest level in three weeks led by property majors like Arabtec and Emaar Properties, even as other markets in the Gulf fell. The Abu Dhabi index, however, fell.

The Dubai Financial Market General Index ended 1.15 per cent higher at 4,494.37, recovering from a low of 4,387.99, a level last seen on November 6.

Arabtec, which was the most active stock in value, ended 6.15 per cent higher at Dh3.95 per share.

“Dubai rebounded after a couple of weak sessions,” said Saleem Khokhar, head of equities at National Bank of Abu Dhabi’s asset management group.

“Arabtec on particular was up due to the resolution of ex-ceo’s stake and wider markets remained nevourness on the back of falling prices and uncertainty over outcome of the Opec meeting,” said Khokhar.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crudes fell to the lowest in more than four years amid speculation that Opec will refrain from cutting production limits at its meeting in Vienna.

Brent futures slid as much as 2.9 per cent in London, dropping for a fourth day.

On the broader Dubai index, out of a total of 31 shares traded on the exchange, shares of 9 companies declined, while shares of 18 companies rose.

In Abu Dhabi, the ADX general index ended 0.46 per cent lower at 4,797.90. Out of a total of 34 companies, shares of 12 companies rose, while 10 of them declined and the other 12 remained steady.

MSCI

The MSCI rebalancing on Tuesday and Wednesday might have also helped follow-through buying.

“Another possible reason for the rally would be follow through of MSCI Emerging Markets rebalancing,” said Khokhar.

MSCI, whose gauges are tracked by investors managing about $9 trillion in assets, included the U.A.E. and Qatar in its emerging markets index in June. The company said in April it would cut the weighting of some stocks by a factor of 0.5 because of ownership restrictions.

MSCI removed the adjustment for stocks including Emaar Properties, Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC in Dubai, Qatar National Bank SAQ, and Industries Qatar QSC in Qatar from November 25.

Emaar rebounds:

Shares of Emaar Properties rebounded, after falling more than 5 per cent in the previous session. Shareholders of the builder of the world’s tallest tower approved a 9 billion-dirham extraordinary dividend on Nov. 24. The share will go ex-dividend on December 1.

“We might see some volatility after dividend payment is made. There might be elevated trading in Emaar as investors adjust their positions post payments of special dividend,” said Khokhar.

The dividend, which is equivalent to Dh1.27 per share, follows the successful IPO and listing of the Emaar Malls Group, the unit of Emaar Properties.