Optimism builds in Dubai as DFM climbs

Markets Update:Stocks traded on the Dubai Financial Market General Index hit Dh824.9 million yesterday, a level last seen in May 2010.

The Dubai Financial Market General Index has gained 30 per cent since the start of the year. Satish Kumar / The National
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The value of shares traded on the Dubai Financial Market General Index hit Dh824.9 million yesterday, a level last seen in May 2010.

The index jumped 55 points to 1,754.2 to close up 3 per cent. The bourse has risen just shy of 30 per cent since the start of January.

Haissam Arabi, the chief executive at Gulfmena Investments in Dubai, said the trading was reminiscent of 2008.

"I haven't seen that kind of volume since 2008," he said. "It shows the momentum in the market among local retail investors, but also institutional money is starting to reposition by upping their weight in the UAE."

"Foreign investors are also coming back in," he said.

Mr Arabi said he saw the move as the beginning of a bull market cycle. "This is probably the first wave. The economy is getting back on its feet, and I expect to see high single-digit growth in the UAE."

Dubai's bull run is part of a global rally in equities as investors take heart from signs that Europe has stabilised its debt crisis and growth is returning to the US.

Positive global indicators are helping to buoy local optimism, with data from China and the US suggesting that the world's two biggest economies are on track to maintain or increase demand for oil and metals.