Dubai’s main index rose for the third straight day, posting the biggest fluctuation among Arab equity markets, on speculation that this year’s slump was overdone given the outlook for corporate profits.

Emaar Properties, the largest publicly traded real-estate development company in the Middle East, led the advance. “There’s been a lot of buying by international investors who see value,” said Amro Diab, head of institutional sales at EFG-Hermes Holding in Dubai.

The Dubai Financial Market General Index gained 2.1% to 4238.97 at close in Dubai as 14 stocks increased, one slid and nine were unchanged.

The measure has dropped 43% this year, making it the fourth-worst performer among indexes tracked globally by Bloomberg News after measures for Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Malta. Shares in Dubai trade at average 12.3 times estimated earnings, according to a report on December 5 by Kuwait’s Kamco Asset Management.

Stocks in the global Morgan Stanley Capital International Emerging Markets Index are valued at 14.8 times earnings, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

The Dow Jones DIFC Arabia Titans 50 Index, a measure of 50 stocks in 10 Arab countries excluding Saudi Arabia, increased 0.6% to 337.04 in the afternoon in Cairo as three times as many shares gained as fell.

Emaar Properties climbed 3.8% to 12.45 dirhams. Amlak Finance, the largest Islamic finance company in the United Arab Emirates, increased 0.9% to 5.43 dirhams.

Tamweel, a Dubai-based Islamic home finance company, increased 1.1% to 4.51 dirhams. Tamweel said yesterday that it plans to pay shareholders 200mn dirhams (.45mn) in dividends after benefiting from a building boom in the sheikhdom.

“The payout is more than expected,” EFG-Hermes’s Diab said.

The Abu Dhabi Securities Market Index advanced 1.3% to 3015.26, its second straight gain. Emirates Telecommunications, the largest mobile phone operator in the U.A.E, added 3.8% to 17.6 dirhams. The National Bank of Abu Dhabi, the third-biggest lender in the UAE, climbed 3.2% to 19.25 dirhams.

Egypt’s CASE 30 Index gained 0.8% to 6676.05, even as 19 stocks fell, nine rose and two were unchanged. Misr Beni Suef Cement Co, a cement maker, added 1.8% to 109 Egyptian pounds. The company said yesterday that it commissioned a French unit of ThyssenKrupp to build a second production line.

Telecom Egypt, the largest fixed-line telephone operator in the Middle East and North Africa, declined 1.1% to E£14. – Bloomberg

Source: Gulf Times

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