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Property stocks spark rebound in Dubai market

The benchmark DFM index rallied on Wednesday following five days of relentless decline and heavy sell-offs that saw it diving to a six-week low.

The measure, which had shed 12.6 per cent in five previous trading sessions, bounced back in its largest single-day gain since mid-September with a 4.18 per cent surge to close at 4,850.49. The rally was driven by 27 stocks, mostly property-related.

Emaar Properties rose 2.49 per cent to Dh9.48, Arabtec advanced 3.04 per cent to Dh6.43 , Union Properties rose 7.66 per cent to Dh2.25, and developer Deyaar added 5.4 per cent, Dubai Islamic Bank gained 5.81 per cent to Dh7.1, Dubai Investment went up by 7.21 per cent to Dh3.42 and the Dubai Financial Market rose by 7.5 per cent to Dh3.44.

With the latest rally, the DFM index, the world’s best performing measure in 2013, is now up 43.9 per cent this year and has trebled since the start of 2013.

“It seems the so-called corrections were short-lived as investors continued to have more appetite to buy,” said an analyst.

Abu Dhabi’s benchmark index climbed 1.7 per cent, rallying from Tuesday’s two-month low to 4,831 points as Qatar retreated by 0.4 per cent to 12,680 points. Saudi Arabia’s index rose 0.4 per cent to 9,766 points, while Kuwait slipped 0.02 per cent to 7,378 points. Bahrain’s the index rose 0.1 per cent to 1,452 points as Oman’s index fell 0.6 per cent to 6,759 points.

Analysts expect the UAE and Qatar bourses to benefit from the MSCI reclassification of the countries to emerging market status in the coming days.

Last week, MSCI added nine stocks from the UAE and 10 stocks from Qatar to its emerging market index. “Both markets will continue to experience roller-coaster rides driven by profit-taking sell-offs following the upgrade,” an analyst said. However, a broad consensus among analysts is that both markets will see a lot more dynamism in the coming months.

— issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com