By: Mahmoud Gamal

Dubai – Mubasher: The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) closed the week ended Thursday, 22 June in the red, weighed down by the investment, real estate and transport sectors.

The DFMGI dropped 1.65% or 57.13 points to 3,402.31 points.

Pressure from the investment sector impacted the DFMGI, after the sector slid 5.4% on the back of a 15.2% plunge for SHUAA Capital and a 4.5% decline for Dubai Investments' stock.

The transport sector lost 1.6% across the week, dragged down by Air Arabia's 3.8% drop, while the real estate sector lost 1.26% after Drake & Scull International (DSI) retreated 9.5% and Emaar Properties fell 1.25%.

The banks sector shed 1.25% after Emirates NBD declined 1.23%.

Commenting on the DFM's weekly performance, Eyad Al-Bareeqy, general manager at Al Ansari Financial Services said that weekly losses were due to an overall state of uncertainty and caution after oil prices slid to 10-month lows.

It is expected that markets will see an improved performance in terms of liquidity and companies' overall stock performance after the Eid holidays as that has been the case in previous years, the analyst told Mubasher.

The UAE's two bourses have announced that they will be closed Sunday through Tuesday for the Eid Al Fitr holidays, with trading to resume on Wednesday 28 June.

Week-on-week, Turnover fell to AED 1.16 billion ($320 million) after 977.79 million shares were traded from AED 2.62 billion ($710 million) and 2.1 billion shares.

Al Bareeqy told Mubasher that the market will likely see new liquidity pumped in that will encourage investment after the holidays, bolstering the overall market atmosphere.

In the event that a recovery does not follow the Eid Al Fitr holidays, the state of caution will continue until companies begin to disclose their financial results for the first half of 2017, he added.

Al Bareeqy expects companies' financials to be positive and consistent with forecasts, which in turn will likely boost the UAE's two markets.

Translated by: Nada Adel Sobhi