By: Mahmoud Gamal

Dubai – Mubasher: The Dubai Financial Market’s (DFM) general index inched down 0.02% to 3,182.82 points on Tuesday, pressured by some blue chips, amid a fever of anticipation due to lack of market-boosting catalysts.

Investors were less confident in the DFM while institutional investments were lacking, which would make the market more likely to ebb and flow in the coming period until the emergence of fresh market-moving catalysts, vice president of Investment Research at KAMCO Raed Diab commented.

The consumer staples sector shed 1.04% after DXB Entertainments lost 1.11% to AED 0.534.

The insurance sector went down 0.63%, as Salama sank 1.6% to AED 0.44, while the services sector fell 0.28% as Tabreed tumbled 1.85%.

The investment sector sank 0.26% after Shuaa declined 0.93% to AED 1.06 and the DFM Company lost 0.93%.

Also, the transportation sector retreated 0.15%, as Air Arabia decreased 1.54% to AED 1.28.

Some blue-chip stocks did not survive the declining trend including Union Properties, Emirates NBD, Drake and Scull International (DSI), and Damac, which levelled down 1.14%, 1.44%, 1.11%, and 0.93%, respectively.

On the positive side, the banks sector grew 0.11% after Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) added 0.92% to AED 5.49, while the real estate sector edged up 0.04%, as Emaar Properties rose 1.02% to AED 5.94.

The DFM’s trading volume shrank to 81.13 million shares from 106.98 million on Monday, while the market’s liquidity dropped to AED 155.4 million through 1,000 transactions, versus AED 186.9 million in the previous session.

Air Arabia topped the DFM in terms of volume, with 11.69 million traded shares, while Emaar Properties led the market in terms of liquidity, with around AED 50.46 million.

Translated by: Muhammad Khalid