Gulf Navigation reacted fastest to the starting pistol for Dubai stocks today as it rose to its highest point in a month after it acquired a very large crude carrier.
Dubai's only publicly traded oil-tanker rose 3.7 per cent to 44 fils on Dubai's main index. The stock had risen as much as 4.9 per cent, the most since November 1, at the open.
The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) General Index rose 0.01 per cent to 1,668.50 points and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange rose 0.3 per cent to 2,748.82 points.
Property stocks were also up in early trading as Deyaar Developments gained 0.6 per cent to 30 fils and Union Properties ticked 1.6 per cent to 38 fils.
But Drake & Scull International, which had soared to a 15-month high yesterday, suffered from profit-taking as the engineering and contracting company's shares slipped 1.8 per cent to Dh1.08.
Oil traded at 27-month highs on speculation the US will sustain an economic recovery into this year, buoying consumption in the world's largest oil consumer.
Brent crude for February settlement rose as much as 35 per cent to $95.10 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe Exchange.
Asian stocks were bolstered by the jump in the oil price. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index ticked 0.7 per cent higher to 482.29 and China's Hang Seng climbed 1.4 per cent to 23,354.18.
Gold rose 0.5 per cent to $1,419.38 a troy ounce and spot silver gained as much as 0.4 per cent to $31.0425 an ounce, the highest price since March 1980.
