By: Mahmoud Gamal
Dubai – Mubasher: The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) saw negative performance during the second quarter of 2016, weighed down by three sectors led by investment and real estate. The DFMGI lost 1.32% or 44.4 points and closed at 3,311.10 points.
UAE markets have suffered strong fluctuations in Q2-16 coinciding with the OPEC meeting which did not come to a solution regarding over supply, amid speculations of a possible increase in US interest rates, as well as the UK’s vote to leave the EU, all of which resulted in concerns among traders, commented market analyst Safwat Totah.
He told Mubasher that these pressures caused the exit of large amounts of liquidity and investments from local shares.
The investment sector led losers, falling 5.24% as Dubai Investments shed 0.4%, while the real estate sector retreated 3%, weighed down by Arabtec and Union Properties which dipped 17% and 16.2%, respectively.
The banking sector lost 1.9% as Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) retreated 5.9%.
Despite the DFM’s negative performance in Q2-16, some blue chips performed positively, led by DFM Company, Emaar Properties and Emaar Malls.
These stocks helped boost market capitalisation by 8.8% or AED 26.5 billion ($7.21 billion) to reach AED 327.85 billion, up from AED 301.30 billion by the end of March.
Turnover was down in Q2-16 to AED 28.49 billion from AED 39.9 billion in Q1-16, while traded volume fell to 23.54 billion shares from 32.4 billion in the previous quarter.
On a monthly basis, the DFMGI slipped 0.08% or 2.6 points to reach 3,311.10 points compared to May’s closing at 3.313.72 points.
Turnover reached AED 6.84 billion in June down from AED 7.6 billion in May, while traded volume was down to 5.19 billion shares against 6.52 billion in the previous month.
Market capitalisation lost 0.7% or AED 3.4 billion ($926 million) in June, compared to its May closing at AED 330.32 billion.
As for its performance during the first six months of 2016, the DFMGI gained 5.08% or 160.1 points, compared to its closing of 3,151 points by the end of December 2015.
Traded volume during the period reached 55.97 billion shares against 64.60 billion by the end of H2-15, while turnover reached AED 68.42 billion down from AED 102.29 billion in the previous half.
Translated by: Nada Adel Sobhi
