Abu Dhabi: The UAE markets continued trading sideways yesterday, with both the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) index and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) general index achieving minor gains amid low volumes.

The DFM index went up 0.33 per cent to 3,512.87, while the ADX general index ended the day 0.22 per cent higher at 4,390.67.

In Dubai, while volumes were higher than Monday’s Dh318 million, they were still relatively low at Dh451.8 million, with analysts attributing the low liquidity to a lack of foreign investors in the market.

Most powerhouses ended in the green, with Damac Properties rising 3.69 per cent, Dubai Parks going up 3.76 per cent, Emirates NBD gaining 1.25 per cent, and Gulf Finance House registering a 0.48 per cent rise.

However, Arabtec, which topped the market in terms of value traded, fell 1.22 per cent to Dh2.42 and Emaar slid 1.19 per cent.

Mousa Haddad, equity fund manager at the National Bank of Abu Dhabi’s asset management group, said he expected the markets to pick up once companies release their financial results for the first quarter of 2015.

“The catalysts are not there to give foreign investors a reason to come into the market at this point in time, so people are a little cautious, and this is also because of the volatility in oil prices.

Relative stability

“People are still waiting for information, and the only information that would be available [are the first quarter] numbers, and these will give direction as to where the market is heading,” Haddad said.

He added that he expected DFM to see relative stability, and did not expect the index to fall below 3,000.

“The 3,000-3,500 level is one that people should be looking very carefully at, and start selectively looking at stocks. At these levels, [stocks] are very attractive, but the direction is not clear yet,” Haddad said.

In the capital, Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) topped the gainers list with a 14.29 per cent increase, followed by International Fish Farming Co (Asmak) at 5.49 per cent, Bank of Sharjah at 4.44 per cent, and Aldar Properties at 2.55 per cent.

Of the 31 companies traded on DFM, 16 rose, 10 fell, and five remained unchanged. Of the 28 companies traded on ADX, 14 fell, nine rose and five remained unchanged.