Lower prices help Dubai exchange recoup its losses

The main Dubai bourse ended higher yesterday for a ninth session out of the past 11, as investors took advantage of lower prices to build new positions following Wednesday's fall. The Dubai Financial Market General Index rose 0.5 per cent to 1,726. It lost 2.3 per cent the previous day in its largest decline for more than a month, but most stocks rebounded yesterday. Among the gainers were shares in the Dubai Financial Market, up 1.8 per cent, and Union Properties adding 2 per cent.

"I believe that the UAE markets are still in 'catch-up' mode to the rest of the regional markets," said Mohammed Yasin, the chief executive at Shuaa Securities in Abu Dhabi. Mr Yasin noted that many stocks were attractively priced, with a price-to-earnings ratio below nine. "The formal announcement of the Dubai World restructuring plan, if it comes in line with what was said, will remove a big worry that has shadowed the UAE markets since November 2009, and will allow the normal fundamentals of the UAE-listed companies to decide the movement of the market in the next few weeks," he said.

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index fell for a fourth consecutive day, slipping 0.6 per cent to 2,832 points. First Gulf Bank lost 3.1 per cent and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank dropped 4.8 per cent. In other markets, Qatar closed flat while the Muscat measure rose 0.2 per cent. The Kuwait Stock Exchange was down 0.3 per cent and the Bahrain Stock Exchange Index climbed 1.1 per cent. The Saudi stock exchange was closed.

* Reuters