Dubai shares close up; Abu Dhabi stocks slightly lower

19/07/2016 05:50 AST

Shares in Dubai closed up for the second session in a row, as regional and international stocks continued to show little anxiety following events in Turkey at the weekend. Abu Dhabi stocks closed slightly lower.

Japan’s Nikkei and the Hang Seng of Hong Kong led gains across Asia as European bourses traded marginally lower. The Euro Stoxx 50 was 0.5 per cent lower late on Monday afternoon, while the S&P 500 looked set to rise.

Brent crude futures slipped about 1.5 per cent on Monday, as oil continued to transit through Turkey as normal following the unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the president Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the weekend.

Dubai shares were buoyant on Monday, with the emirate’s headline index closing up 1.3 per cent at 3,535.20 and just three stocks ending in the red.

Emaar Properties and DIB led gains among heavyweight names, closing up 2.2 and 1.8 per cent, respectively.

Shares in Emirates NBD ended unchanged at Dh8.50, in spite of the bank reporting solid second quarter earnings. The shares are up 14.8 per cent for the year to date.

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index ended a busier-than-average day down 0.2 per cent at 4,586.05, even as gainers outnumbered laggers.

FGB and UNB acted as anchors on the index, ending 1.6 and 1.8 per cent lower, respectively. Etisalat and Aldar Properties were the pick of the capital’s big names, closing up 0.5 and 0.3 per cent, respectively.

The Qatar Exchange led gains across the Arabian Gulf, closing up 1.6 per cent. In Saudi Arabia, the Tadawul closed less than 0.1 per cent higher.

The National