Dubai Investments was the only stock to rise on the emirate's bourse this morning bucking a wider trend that has seen investors shy away from trading ahead of the year's end.
The company that invests in joint ventures and local companies rose 0.4 per cent to 84 fils.
The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) General Index retreated 0.2 per cent to 1,637.25 points and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange lost 0.03 per cent to 2,721.50 points.
No stocks rose at the open in Dubai, but shares in seven companies fell, led by Dubai Islamic Bank. The company dropped 1.4 per cent to Dh2.14.
Emaar Properties was also a loser of the early morning trading session as it slipped 0.8 per cent to Dh3.54.
In Abu Dhabi, telecoms operator Etisalat fell 0.5 per cent to Dh10.8.
The UAE's largest company by market capitalisation announced it will cut 300 jobs to save money earlier this week.
Taqa slipped 1.4 per cent to Dh1.44 reversing gains it made yesterday after the energy company received an A rating from Standard & Poor's rating agency.
Asian stocks fell on speculation that North Korea will retaliate to artillery drills by its neighbour.
Japan's Nikkei dropped 0.8 per cent to 10,216.41 points and China's Hang Seng Index dropped 0.6 per cent to 22,586.24 points.
In commodities, Gold rose for the first time as it gained 0.8 per cent to $1,385.20 a troy ounce and silver ticked 1.5 per cent higher to $29.3300 an ounce.
Crude oil was trading at about $88 a barrel in New York, as forecasts for freezing temperatures in Europe and the US northeast looked set to boost fuel demand.
