Dubai's main stock market surged yesterday as investors poured money back into equities ahead of first-quarter results.
Emaar Properties rose 0.3 per cent to Dh3.30.
Investors bought Emaar stock in anticipation of a positive surprise in first-quarter results, said Marwan Shurrab, the chief trader at the asset manager Gulfmena Investments in Dubai. Many investors expect the developer to release its results this week, Mr Shurrab said.
Emaar on Monday agreed to pay a cash dividend of 10 fils per share for last year.
The Dubai Financial Market General Index rose 1.8 per cent to 1,670.05. Traded value increased to Dh400 million yesterday, compared with a daily average of Dh200m last week.
"The good news is turnover has come back, meaning there is still some money on the sidelines awaiting earnings reports," Mr Shurrab said.
Other stocks rallied amid speculative trading by retail investors.
Tabreed, a district cooling company, jumped 14.9 per cent to Dh1.31. Tamweel, a Sharia-compliant mortgage lender, advanced 12.2 per cent to Dh1.28.
"Both stocks are very closely correlated, although they have completely different lines of business," Mr Shurrab said.
The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index advanced 0.2 per cent to 2,505.09.
Elsewhere in the region, Bahrain's index slipped 0.2 per cent to 1,148.10, Oman's fell 0.1 per cent to 5,952.32, Qatar's QE Index fell 0.3 per cent to 8,664.20, and the Saudi Tadawul All-Share Index fell 0.1 per cent to 7,512.26.
