Special Features
Carnage on the UAE markets
October 5, updateA dire day on the UAE markets as Dubai fell almost 7% and Abu Dhabi down almost 5%. Turnover was moderate with half a billion dhs in Abu Dhabi and over a billion dhs in Dubai. A glum reaction to the US bailout package, or does this mean the markets have already decided Cityscape Dubai will be a bust?
Tamweel and Amlak were reported to be in merger talks, and Emaar said they were setting up a joint venture for a 26 billion dh property development in Saudi Arabia. Crescent Petroleum, a Dana Gas associate, has started supplying gas in Kurdistan. Despite those good sounding news items, all the companies involved saw big drops in share price.
Dubai Financial Market
More than half the turnover in Dubai was on Emaar Properties (EMAAR) as it plummeted 12.3% to 6.80. Arabtec (ARTC) also saw more than 100m of trading and suffered an even greater loss of 14.4% to close at 10.70. AMAN and DARTAKAFUL also fell more than 10%. Most other actively traded stocks fell between 5% and 10% with only GFH in the green, from one small trade.
Abu Dhabi Securities Market
No buyers in the queue, with 10% limit down trading in Abu Dhabi for Sorouh Real Estate (SOROUH), Aldar Properties (ALDAR) (the 2 most active stocks with turnover of more than AED 100m worth), Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB), and First Gulf Bank (FGB). Most other actively traded stocks had falls of 5%-10%. Etisalat (ETISALAT) wasn’t so badly off with a 3.9% fall to 15.95. Six stocks rose, but none on significant levels of trading.
