Dubai leads Gulf markets rally

25/01/2016 06:50 AST

Oil price rebound and global equities rally put energy into Gulf stocks on Sunday where markets soared more than four per cent in early trade led by Dubai bourse.

Dubai Financial Market led the GCC rally with 5.2 per cent jump in the benchmark index in the morning and settled at 2,757.08 points with 5.15 per cent gain of the day, pulling away from a 28-month low on Thursday. The majority of shares jumped more than two per cent in the largest volume of trades this year.

At the Dubai Financial Market, Arabtec emerged top trading scrip with 106 million shares and its stock price increased by 10 per cent. Other top trading stocks were Gulf Finance House 77 million shares, Amlak Finance 40.9 million shares.

The Dubai index heavyweight Emaar Properties share price appreciated by 8.9 per cent and it closed at Dh2.20. "The global rally and oil price recovery is a great signal for investors here to buy," Hisham Khairy, the Dubai-based head of institutional trade at Mena Corp Financial Services, told Bloomberg.

"If tomorrow the market opens higher, it would offer a great selling opportunity," Khairy said, who recommends "exiting the market" because the factors that led to the selloff across the region haven't been resolved.

Abu Dhabi Securities Market also surged by 2.73 per cent to 3,839.05 points from a 28-month low on Thursday, trimming its losses to 10.9 per cent this year.

Small and mid-cap stocks, which are usually thinly traded, topped gainers. Emirates Driving and Ras Al Khaimah Cement soared 14.3 per cent and 11.7 per cent, respectively. Dana Gas, the most traded stock on the bourse, rose five per cent while National Bank of Abu Dhabi and First Gulf Bank climbed 3.9 per cent and 4.5 per cent, respectively.

Oil prices jumped for the second consecutive day on Friday. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for March leapt $2.66 to $32.19 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent North Sea crude for delivery in March, the European benchmark for crude oil, finished at $32.18 a barrel in London, a 10-percent increase over Thursday's settlement.

Khaleej Times