Dubai shares surged on the first day of trading after the Eid Al Fitr holiday, closing at their highest level in nearly six weeks.
The Dubai Financial Market General Index was the best performing stock index globally yesterday, closing up 2 per cent at 4,184.05.
Union Properties led gains on the index, ending up 5 per cent at Dh1.26.
“Many of the larger regional investors are still on holiday, but there was selected demand for large cap stocks from western institutions, with a little bit of pent-up demand from the Eid break,” said Julian Bruce, the head of institutional trading at EFG-Hermes in Dubai.
“Second-quarter earnings are starting to appear and are expected to be OK, with some positive surprises expected from the banks,” he said.
Emirates NBD and Dubai Islamic Bank closed at their highest levels of the year at Dh10.15 and Dh7.18, respectively.
Dubai continues to benefit from improved regional sentiment following last week’s agreement between the USA and Iran over the latter’s nuclear programme, said Mr Bruce.
“The UAE is seen as the greatest beneficiary throughout the region from the Iran deal, with increased trade putting Dubai in prime position. Plus Dubai is also protected against the impact of greater oil supplies.”
Shares in Abu Dhabi meanwhile were more muted, closing up 0.2 per cent at 4,824.03. The emirate's headline index has risen for six straight days, its longest winning streak since early April.
The index was bolstered by ADCB and Etisalat, which rose by 0.6 per cent and 1.1 per cent, respectively.
jeverington@thenational.ae
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