Dubai bourse hits 7-year low amid Oman unrest

01/03/2011 00:00 AST

Dubai's main bourse dropped to a 7-year low at the close as tensions in Oman escalated and political unrest forced investors to sell their positions.

The Dubai Financial Market, lost 3.8 per cent to 1,410.7 points. Among the casualties were Drake & Scull International, the engineering and contracting company, which lost 9.5 per cent to 90 fils, the lowest point since September 2010.

Logistics courier Aramex despite the board recommending distributing a 7.5 per cent cash dividend for 2010. It fell 2.5 per cent to Dh1.55 in Dubai.

Aldar Properties, the capital's biggest developer, fell to the lowest on record after shareholders approved a bond sale to Mubadala, its biggest shareholder.

The company fell 7.2 per cent to Dh1.42, its lowest point since 2005, when the stock was listed.

Aldar will offer 2.8 billion dirhams ($762 million) of convertible securities to Mubadala, an investment arm of the Abu Dhabi government. Mubadala will also convert a 2008 bond into equity at 11.73 dirhams a share, Aldar said in January.

It weighed on the capital's market as the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange slipped 1.15 per cent to 2,598.16 points.

In Oman, there have been reports of as many as six protesters being killed in the industrial city of Sohar after clashes between police and rioters, pushing the measure to a 2-year low. It closed 4.9 per cent to 6,142.42 points.

Uncertainty has clouded the regional markets and pushed institutional and foreign investors to reposition elsewhere, sending stock markets across the region to new lows.

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The National