Dubai shares gain amid property recovery optimism

Stocks in Dubai were among the biggest gainers across the Middle East amid optimism that Emaar Properties earnings may point to a wider recovery in the emirate.

The Dubai Financial Market General Index jumped 0.8 per cent as Emaar advanced as much as 2.8 per cent, the biggest gain on the gauge in point terms. Qatar’s main index rose 0.4 per cent, even after the country’s finance minister was ordered detained on Thursday.

Growing confidence Gulf states are on the cusp of an economic rebound is stoking speculation that property developers will be the biggest beneficiaries. Emaar Properties, which is due to release earnings results in coming days, said last month first-quarter property sales more than doubled from the same period last year. Its malls unit on Sunday reported first-quarter net income that beat the average analyst estimate.

“The focus will be on Emaar’s results in Dubai to see the impact of stabilising real-estate prices on the emirate’s largest developer and bellwether stock,” said Hasnain Malik, the head of research at Tellimer in Dubai.

Equity markets elsewhere in the region were also buoyed by expectations governments and central banks around the world will keep stimulus in place for the time being. US stocks rose Friday, with the S&P 500 Index hitting a record, even after a much weaker-than-expected jobs report.

Gauges in Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Bahrain, Egypt and Israel gained, while Saudi Arabian and Omani shares were little changed.

While the jobs report reaffirmed the outlook for loose policy in the US, regional markets are digesting an order for the arrest of Qatar’s finance minister as well as earnings misses versus expectations, Malik wrote in emailed comments.

Markets in Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Egypt were among those trading at lower-than-average volume on Sunday. Investors are less likely to build positions ahead of the long Eid holiday, Divye Arora, a portfolio manager at Daman Investments said by phone.

MIDDLE EASTERN MARKETS:

• Dubai Financial Market General Index rises for a third session
  • Emaar Properties +2.3 per cent; Dubai Islamic Bank +1.1 per cent; Damac Properties +3.3 per cent
  • NOTE, on Thursday: Emaar Development on Record Winning Streak Ahead of Results
• Abu Dhabi’s ADX General Index closes 1.1 per cent higher
  • Arkan Building Materials rises 15 per cent
  • NOTE: Abu Dhabi’s ADQ Bets on Recovery With Emirates Steel-Arkan Deal
• Qatar Exchange Index rises 0.4 per cent
  • Commercial Bank of Qatar +3.1 per cent; Qatar Insurance +3.2 per cent; Mesaieed Petrochemical +1.7 per cent
  • Doha Bank gains 10 per cent, trading limit up
  • The bank is the “least expensive bank in Qatar and we are seeing some opportunistic buying in the name,” Saugata Sarkar, head of research at QNB Financial Services writes in an email
    NOTE: Qatar’s prosecutor ordered the arrest of Finance Minister Ali Sharif Al-Emadi to question him over alleged abuse of power and misuse of public funds
  • Al-Emadi was removed from post and Ali Al-Kuwari, the Trade and Industry minister, was named as acting finance minister
• Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index little-changed after rising as much as 0.4 per cent
• Kuwait’s Premier Market Index jumps 0.2 per cent, up for a sixth day
  • NOTE: Kuwaiti Shares Rise on Results, Correction May Be Natural: Kamco
  • “The major contributor to the recent rally in Kuwait Premier Markets has been the surge in Agility’s shares” following a $4.1bn deal with DSV Panalpina, says M.R. Raghu, CEO, Marmore Mena Intelligence
  • “In addition, shares of Islamic banks such as KFH and Boubyan Bank have been rallying on the back of strong earnings in recent quarters,” he writes in an email
• Egypt’s EGX 30 Index rises for the third session, closing 0.5 per cent higher
  • Commercial International Bank +0.8 per cent; ElSewedy Electric +2.6 per cent; Talaat Moustafa +1.9 per cent