Emaar board meeting delay creates tension

Dubai shares fell yesterday partly because some investors were worried about the decision by Emaar Properties to postpone its board of directors meeting by one day. The Dubai Financial Market General Index lost 0.5 per cent to 6,413.13. Emaar Properties, the bourse's largest company by market capitalisation, dropped 0.7 per cent to Dh3.77. The company pushed back its board meeting to today without saying why.

"In the filing they said the meeting would affect the share price," said Ameed Kanaan, the operations manager at Al Jazira Financial Services in Dubai. "Investors have speculated different ideas and that has caused some tension in the market." Brokers also attributed the dip in the index to the market's strong performance so far this month. "It is the end of the month, some profit taking is acceptable. People want to close their positions and start neutral," Mr Kanaan said.

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index moved 0.1 per cent lower to 2,660.98. Property stocks fell the most. Aldar Properties, the developer of Yas Island, lost 2.3 per cent to Dh2.50 and Sorouh Real Estate lost 1.1 per cent to 83 fils a share. Elsewhere in the region, Kuwait's index added 0.5 per cent at 6,870.20. Bahrain's bourse lost 0.1 per cent to 1,451.30. Oman's measure dropped 0.3 per cent to 6,499.86, and Qatar's index gained 0.2 per cent to 7,647.32.

The Saudi Tadawul All-Share Index fell 0.7 per cent to 6,403.93.

halsayegh@thenational.ae