Dubai: The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) General Index gained 0.39 per cent to close at 3,608.47 on Wednesday as traders favoured select stocks ahead of property earnings and amid fears of another lull on the bourse.
Emaar Properties closed 0.12 per cent higher at Dh8.16, Dubai Investments rose 2 per cent to close at Dh2.45, while HITS Telecom ended the day 1.33 per cent at Dh0.608.
“We have seen interest in select stocks. Property results will be out in a few days. We may see another wave of activity before [it dies] down,” Sanyalaksna Manibhandu, director of research at the National Bank of Abu Dhabi Securities, said.
When it came to other stocks, traders resorted to profit-taking in Dubai Insurance and Reinsurance (Aman) and Union Properties after their recent run-up.
Aman shed 5.38 per cent to close at Dh0.98 and was joined by Union Properties, which closed 1.28 per cent lower at Dh0.926.
The total value of transactions on the day stood at Dh298 million.
Meanwhile, in the UAE capital, the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange shed 0.39 per cent to close at 4,524.15.
Dana Gas slipped 1.52 per cent to close at Dh0.65, Sharjah Islamic Bank was down 2.21 per cent at Dh1.33 while Union National Bank fell 2.41 per cent lower to Dh4.45.
Inactivity
Analysts called on traders to take positions in select stocks but cautioned that they must keep in mind that the next lull is coming.
“I think at the end of second or third week of August, we may [see] another wave of inactivity. People won’t come back [until] mid-September,” he added.
Damac, Emaar and Aldar are expected to publish their earnings in the coming days.
“The big excitement would be Air Arabia in the third quarter, so we may see that stock moving up again,” Manibhandu said.
Elsewhere in the Gulf region, Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index shed 0.41 per cent to end at 7,198.37, while the Qatar Exchange index fell 0.11 per cent to close the day at 9,583.78. The Muscat MSM 30 index bucked the trend, gaining 0.59 per cent to close the day at 5,027.35.
