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Dubai up, but volumes slump to new low

Dubai, July 2, 2012

Dubai's bourse recovered from an intraday dip to end higher on Monday, but trading volumes were the lowest since January 2 as a summer lull deepened.

Dubai's index ticked up 0.1 per cent to hit 1,465 points, its second straight gain.

The market was trapped within a tight trading range since mid-May, with investors little moved to increase their risk exposure while trading was lacklustre.

Low turnover makes it harder to enter and exit stocks and also tends to lead to larger price swings, said experts.

Market leader Emaar Properties and builder Arabtec gained 1.4 and 0.4 percent respectively.

With second-quarter earnings expected to bring few surprises, investors were shying away despite signs of a turnaround in Dubai's beleaguered property sector.

'Construction side margins are still shrinking because competitive pressure is increasing, but real estate has visibly improved,' said Amery Khan, a fund manager at Shuaa Asset Management.

'All in all, UAE earnings should be better than last year, but ... you wouldn't expect companies to post substantial growth in profitability,' he added.

Abu Dhabi's benchmark finished little changed, easing 0.07 percent to 2,458 points.

Elsewhere, Qatar's bourse slipped 0.1 percent to close at 8,197 points, resuming its decline.

It made its largest gain since January on Sunday, rising 1 percent, to ease away from Thursday's 10-month closing low amid a regional upbeat trend after euro zone leaders agreed to directly recapitulating the bloc's banks.

Financial stocks were the main drag. Commercial Bank of Qatar slipped 1.1 percent, Doha Bank shed 0.9 percent and Masraf Al Rayan dipped 0.4 percent.

In Saudi, the bargain hunters lifted the bourse, but gains were capped as oil prices slipped and weak Chinese manufacturing data sparked fears of weakening global growth.

The kingdom's index, the main equity benchmark in the world's top oil exporter, climbed 0.2 per cent to 6,718 points, up for a second session in three since last week's five-month low.

Brent crude fell towards $96 a barrel on Monday on the weak factory data from China, while doubts also remain over an EU debt deal that had helped oil prices post their fourth biggest daily gain on record on Friday.

In Kuwait, the index climbed 0.4 percent to 5,879 points, while Oman's bourse ended 0.7 percent lower at 5,622 points.-Reuters




Tags: Dubai | stocks | trading | bourse |

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