UAE stocks end volatile day down after Dubai bailout

[LahoreEstate]

Wednesday, December 16, 2009
DUBAI: Stock markets in the United Arab Emirates closed with losses on a volatile on Tuesday as investors took profits and digested the previous day’s news that Abu Dhabi would bail out debt-ridden Dubai.

The Dubai Financial Market index fell 1.49 per cent to finish at 1,843.27 points despite a bullish performance in early trading, when the DFM rose by several percentage points at one stage. On Monday the exchange had surged more than 10 per cent as Dubai’s government said it would pay $4.1 billion to cover maturing bonds issued by its Nakheel property giant after receiving the 10-billion-dollar handout.

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) also posted a loss on Tuesday, sagging 0.96 per cent to 2,794.03 points by the close. The ADX had also risen in early trading, but later lost all of those gains and some of Monday’s, when it climbed almost eight per cent.

Humam al-Shamaa, an analyst at Al-Fajr Securities, attributed Tuesday’s declines to speculators selling shares for profit after having bought them at rock-bottom prices.

“These minor drops were expected after the strong surges that took place over the past few days. This is a result of profit-taking sales by speculators who bought at very low rates,” Shamaa said.

But he added: “It is good to see that most sale offers were taken up by buyers. This is the reason behind the increase in the total value of traded shares.”

Wadah Taha, chief investment officer at the Dubai-based Zarooni Group, expressed similar sentiments.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=213574