By: Mahmoud Gamal
Dubai – Mubasher: The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) continued its downtrend on Thursday, weighed down by selling pressures on real estate and transportation stocks.
The general index fell 0.8% or 29.16 points to reach 3,554.46 points.
The real estate sector topped losers with a 1.98% decline, weighed down by Emaar Properties and Arabtec Holding which sank 2.24% and 0.7% respectively.
The banks sector tumbled 0.39% after Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) also levelled down 0.74%.
The market was weighed down by continuing profit-taking on blue chips and defensive stocks, in line with the decline of oil prices and volatile performance of global stocks, capital market analyst Gamal Abdel Hamid said.
The UAE markets managed to absorb the US interest rate rise, Abdel Hamid added.
Despite the fall of Dubai bourse, some portfolio investors tended to build new positions in stocks which reached attractive price levels, the analyst noted.
On the flipside, the consumer staples sector rose 1.47% after DXB Entertainments went up 1.47%.
The investment sector increased 1.17% as SHUAA Capital and Dubai Investments advanced 3.38% and 1.29% respectively.
The market will stabilise and attract liquidity if the main index stabilizes above 3,580 points, the analyst noted.
Turnover stood at AED 850.75 million on Thursday, compared to AED 768.48 million on Wednesday. Trading volume reached 690.77 million shares, compared to 588.28 million shares.
The UAE exchanges are expected to see a volatile performance on Sunday despite portfolio investors’ tendency to increase their positions in blue-chip and mid-cap stocks, Abdel Hamid added.
Translated by: Julian Nabil
