By: Thabet Shehata

UAE – Mubasher: Market analyst Waddah Taha told Mubasher that he expects Monday’s session in UAE stock markets to hold backed by the financial results of Emaar Properties, which were higher than expected alongside Etisalat.

The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) resumed its decline after a two-day bull run, as it was weighed by the tumbling of major stocks namely Arabtec, Emaar, Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) and Dubai Investments (DI).

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) ended Sunday’s session on a down note, falling to its lowest level in 11 days after all sectors moved to the red led by energy and real estate.

Emaar Properties announced on Sunday its financials for the first six months of 2015 and reported a net profit of AED 2.2 billion ($600 million), a growth of 12% from AED 1.977 billion ($538 million) reported in the same period a year earlier.

UAE markets suffered on Sunday due to weak liquidity, which prevented them from extending gains and hastened profit-taking, Taha told Mubasher in his comment on the markets’ performance.

He added that DFM’s ending near the level of 4,100 points indicates negative performance due to shedding several important levels.

UAE markets previously found strong support from the strong financials of several important companies; however, markets soon returned to their negative performance due to the unavailability of adequate liquidity, the analyst noted.

Etisalat’s step to raise the percentage of profit distributions was “a smart move”, according to the analyst, who added that that step highlighted the urgency of the profit decline due to Mobily and in turn supported the stock.

Emaar’s financials which were announced after the end of Sunday’s session are considered higher than expected, and are therefore likely to act as strong support during Monday’s session, especially due to Emaar’s weight in the DFMGI, Taha said, adding that he expects UAE markets to enjoy support from Emaar, as well as Etisalat on the ADX.

Translated by: Nada Adel Sobhi