Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank bore the brunt of a sluggish start to day on the Abu Dhabi bourse, as its shares slipped 3.33 per cent to Dh2.9.
Its malaise was reflected elsewhere on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index which lost 0.08 per cent during early trading dropping to 2,763.96 points.
The emirate's real estate sector remained relatively flat as Sorouh Real Estate was unchanged at Dh1.71 and Aldar Properties at Dh2.43.
But Methaq Takaful Insurance Company provided the morning's ray of hope seeing its shares increase 1.5 per cent to Dh2.68. The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) General Index opened 0.1 per cent down to 1,674.06 points.
Its property sector fared better than Abu Dhabi's with Emaar Properties increasing 0.5 per cent to Dh3.71 and Arabtec gaining 1.5 per cent to Dh2.04 while Deyaar rose 1 per cent to Dh0.30.
Markets in Asia were cheered by China's decision not to raise borrowing costs even as inflation climbed 5.1 per cent in November.
The Hang Seng Index was up 0.3 per cent to 23,234.63 points and Japan's Nikkei rose 0.8 per cent to 10,293.89 points, though the MSCI Asia Pacific Index slipped 0.2 per cent to 133.09.
Commodities also advanced as copper futures jumped to an all-time high as the increased imports by the world's largest consumer boosted outlook for demand.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange gained as much as 1.5 percent to $9,120 a metric ton, and traded at $9,108 at 12:22pm in Singapore.
Gold for immediate delivery reached a record $1,431.25 an ounce on December 7 and traded at $1,386 at the end of last week. Silver last week climbed to a 30-year high of $30.7025 an ounce and was last at $28.6712.
