DUBAI: Dubai Financial Market General Index ended trade flat at Dh446 million volumes but remains below at 4,000 points level, almost half of the daily average of Dh1 billion.
Marwan Shurrab, fund manager and head of trading at Vision Investments & Holdings, said that “The focus now is not to build positions but wait and see how markets would react to volatility in commodity prices and international markets. Once we break above 4,000 levels markets would see further capital inflows.”
Emaar Properties ended 0.40 per cent higher at Dh7.43, making it the most active stock in trade. Mashreq Bank also jumped 4.31 per cent to be at Dh121.
Osama Al Ashri, member of British organisation, Society of Technical Analysts, said that “I see Emaar Properties above Dh8 within a few weeks.”
Out of a total of 36 shares traded on the exchange, shares of 20 companies fell, while shares of 12 companies rose.
The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index fell 0.12 per cent lower at 4,668.98. Abu Dhabi National Hotels fell 9.87 per cent to end at Dh3.38, while National Corporation and Tourism and Hotels ended 4.76 per cent lower at Dh6.
First Gulf Bank ended 0.28 per cent lower at Dh17.95, making it the most active stock in trade, while Emirates Telecommunications Corp ended 0.43 per cent higher at Dh11.55, making it the second most active stock in trade.
First Gulf Bank may record new high and may witness range bound trading till then, said Al Ashri.
Aldar may hit a new high at around resistance area of Dh3.10, said Al Ashri. Aldar closed at Dh2.65 in trade.
“Trading sentiments remain in a state of hesitancy. However, some signs of positive movements were observed during the last two sessions of the week, especially on heavyweight picks such as Emaar,” said Talal Touqan Head of Research and advisory at Al Ramz Capital.
“Foreigners still remain slow in taking action, though, and domestic trade is mainly focused on speculative picks targeting small to medium caps. We still think that there are not enough catalysts for a breakout to happen, especially after Dubai index failing to touch the 4,000 level several times,” said Touqan.
Foreigners have been on the sidelines keenly watching the crude oil markets, and waiting for signs of stability before building positions in equities.
Most of the foreign investors squared off their positions in the last two months of 2014 at heightened volatility.
Trading in UAE equities is cornered by retail participation, though foreign participants got aggressive after the MSCI upgraded the UAE and Qatar index to emerging from frontier markets.
