By: Mahmoud Gamal
Dubai – Mubasher: The Dubai Financial Market’s (DFM) general index jumped 3.92%, the highest rise in over a year and a half, adding 57.17 points to end the week at 2,633.69 points.
The rise came on the back of increased investor optimism as the period for disclosing financial results has ended and companies have unveiled many generous annual dividend distributions, particularly real estate and banks, which registered strong performance in 2018, analysts told Mubasher.
The DFM’s market capitalisation grew by AED 9.09 billion in the week ended Thursday, 21 February to close at AED 349.80 billion compared to last week’s closing at AED 340.71 billion.
The DFM’s performance this week has exceeded expectations, driven mainly by Emaar Properties’ stock and its subsidiaries, MenaCorp’s head of asset management Tarek Qaqish said.
The real estate sector leapt 16.65% over the course of the week after Emaar Properties soared 21.04%, while Emaar Malls and Emaar Development surged 16.67% and 18.4%, respectively.
Combined the three Emaar firms logged AED 11 billion in market gains during the five-session week.
Qaqish attributed gains by Emaar and its units to foreign portfolios looking to invest in these stocks whose financial performance was robust.
Meanwhile, the investment sector gained 8.18% after Dubai Investments increased 10.9%, while the DFM Company added 6.32%. Moreover, the banks sector added 1.43%, backed by the Commercial Bank of Dubai (CBD) and Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB), which increased 7.25% and 2.8%, respectively.
The improvement witnessed in global and oil markets has contributed to investors’ optimism and increased their interest in acquiring stakes in leading companies, which enjoyed strong annual operating performance, Qaqish told Mubasher.
As for the DFM’s investment sector, the analyst noted that investors were negatively impacted by Thursday’s trading session when Gulf General Investment Co. (GGICO) revealed it was still suffering from some disputes.
The transport sector incurred the sharpest drop this week, falling 2.44% after Air Arabia plunged 6.06% to AED 0.930.
Translated by: Nada Adel Sobhi
