• Home
• /
• Business

Shares advance for the third day

Lower interest rates have boosted confidence among traders, analysts say. "Investors are still anticipating good corporate earnings," said a Bloomberg report, quoting Faisal Hasan, head of research at Kuwait's Global Investment House.

The UAE, along with four other Gulf countries, lowered interest rates in line with the US Federal Reserve's move to slash rates aimed at preventing a further recession. Except for Kuwait, the five other Gulf countries have their currencies pegged to the US dollar. The US economy has been in a slowdown due to the recent subprime mortgage crisis.

Zawya Dow Jones reported yesterday that Oman, the last country in the Gulf region to act, cut its repo rate, or the benchmark deposit rate, 0.18 percentage point to 4.14 per cent. With shares value of Dh2.9 billion, the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) General Index advanced for a sixth day. The Abu Dhabi Securities Market (ADSM) Index brought its three-day gain to four per cent.

Emaar Properties, the largest real-estate developer in the Middle East and Africa, rose 0.8 per cent to Dh12.60 while Emirates NBD, which was created following the merger of Emirates Bank International and National Bank of Dubai, grew 1.3 per cent to Dh15.05.

Aramex, a global provider of total transportation and logistics solutions, topped DFM with a jump of four per cent to Dh3.14 from an opening price of Dh2.95 while the Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Co (du) dropped 2.6 per cent to Dh6.48. In Abu Dhabi, Sorouh Real Estate Co advanced 5.2 per cent to Dh9.08, gaining the most since January 23. Its chief executive announced Monday plans to borrow Dh3.67 billion ($1 billion) for domestic projects this year.