DUBAI — The UAE markets had some lacklustre performance yesterday, with Dubai's general benchmark crashing 1.79 per cent to 4,419.49 points and Abu Dhabi's main index falling 0.32 per cent to 3,674.76 points as they closed the third day of weekly trading.
The materials and real estate indices suffered most of the beatings on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) General Index with a fall of 4.76 per cent to 380.07 and 3.3 per cent to 10,001.67. All the other indices also dropped, except for that of common staples which remained flat.
Only two companies gained yesterday, namely AirArabia, a low-cost airline based in the UAE emirate of Sharjah, which rose 11 per cent to Dh1.11; and Gulf Finance House, a regional leader in Islamic investment and commercial banking, which increased 2.15 per cent to Dh8.99.
Falling 4.91 per cent to close at Dh7.35, Oman Insurance Co., one of the biggest insurance firms in Dubai, was DFM's biggest loser, followed by National Cement Co. with a drop of 4.76 per cent to Dh12. The other big losers were Arab Insurance Group, which declined 3.77 per cent to Dh3.06; Emaar Properties, a leading real estate developer, which lost 3.75 per cent to Dh11.55; and Amlak Finance, which slipped 2.22 per cent to Dh3.52.