Dubai stocks rally on banking, property stocks

INVESTMENT TIME: The Dubai Financial Market jumped 5.1 per cent to its highest level since September 16 last year after higher second-quarter profit. - Reuters

Dubai stock markets rallied on Tuesday as higher second-quarter corporate profits posted by banks, financial service firms and property majors triggered a general upswing.
Dubai's bourse consolidated gains after touching nearly a year-high on Monday while in Abu Dhabi, the index closed 0.6 per cent lower.
The Dubai's benchmark DFM index rose 1.1 per cent, boosted by real estate and financial stocks.
Emaar Properties gained 1.5 per cent, continuing its rally over the recent sessions after the master developer signed a memorandum of understanding concerning an $11 billion project at Beijing's new airport.
The Dubai Financial Market jumped 5.1 per cent to its highest level since September 16 last year after higher second-quarter profit.
Market analysts said the appeal of Dubai is back on the radar of global investors as the emirate began to attract those on the lookout for bargains, with its benchmark stock index having lost almost half its value in the past five years. The DFM General Index is on track to rise about eight per cent in July, in what would be its best monthly performance in more than four years, analyst said.
In Abu Dhabi, Emirates Telecom Group slipped 1.4 per cent and the UAE's biggest lender, First Abu Dhabi Bank, edged down 0.5 per cent.
According to an investment bank, a series of pro-investor measures by the UAE have been increasing the country's appeal to international investors. A proposal by First Abu Dhabi Bank, the country's biggest bank, to remove a cap on its foreign ownership limit, an impending interest rate cut and an expected surge in public spending in the run up to Expo 2020 are factors lifting investor sentiments.
Elsewhere, Saudi Arabian stocks edged up, recovering from the previous session's biggest single-day loss in a month, as strong earnings from two lenders boosted most bank shares.
The Saudi index was up 0.1 per cent. Al Rajhi Bank gained per cent after it posted a more than four per cent rise in second-quarter profit, as revenue from special commissions and investments increased.
Riyad Bank gained as much as 2.4 per cent after its profit surged over the same period on a 22.9 per cent jump in operating income, but traded unchanged at the close.
In Bahrain, the index was up 0.7 per cent to 1,546 points while in Oman the index edged up 0.1 per cent to 3,755 points as Kuwait index fell 0.5 per cent to 6,735 points. - issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com