UAE stocks extend gains, DFM up 1.6%

03/04/2014 08:30 AST

Financial and property stocks lifted bourses in the UAE and Qatar on Tuesday, while Egypt rebounded after three days of heavy profit-taking.

Dubai’s index rose 1.6 per cent and closed the day at 4,520.73 points. Shares in Emaar Properties broke through the psychologically important level of Dh10 to end 1.5 per cent higher at Dh10.10.

Lender Emirates NBD added 2.7 per cent after conglomerate Dubai World, to which it has major exposure, said it was able to make upcoming debt repayments on time and even ahead of schedule.

Dubai Financial Market, which said on Monday its daily trading volume has risen 424 per cent this year, was up 2.1 per cent.

Abu Dhabi’s index rose 1.2 per cent to 4,954.22 points, approaching the February peak of 5,005 points, also largely on the back of banking and property stocks.

Qatar’s benchmark rose 1.8 per cent to 11,849 points, extending a rally that begun this week after the government adopted a record $60 billion budget for the 2014-15 fiscal year.

The index, now at a four-week high, faces resistance at 11,900 points, the February peak. Qatar National Bank and Islamic lender Masraf Al Rayan were among the top gainers, rising 2.9 per cent and 3.2 per cent, respectively.

Egypt’s index, which had lost eight per cent of its value in the previous three sessions, rebounded on Tuesday to close 1.5 per cent higher.

The dip was a result of profit-taking by investors who had built up positions in anticipation of former army chief Abdel Fattah Al Sisi’s run for president.

Khaleej Times