Heavy Emaar trade a driver in Dubai

Dubai’s market closed on a positive note yesterday, backed by solid gains in property shares, while Saudi Arabia declined, reversing earlier gains, and other markets were mixed.

The Dubai index rose 0.4 per cent to 2,932 points as heavy trading in heavyweight property developer Emaar Properties sent its shares 1.6 per cent up. Damac Properties added 1.4 per cent.

Saudi’s index reversed its earlier gains and closed 0.2 per cent down to 8,448 points with only 36 advancing stocksout of 182 traded yesterday.

Arab Bank and National Industrialisation (Tasnee) lost 3.7 per cent and 3.2 per cent, respectively.

Saudi Kayan, a subsidiary of petrochemical giant Sabic, jumped 6.2 per cent, leading market gainers.

The company said on Sunday it made a record net profit of 878.7 million riyals in the three months to June 30 compared with 242m riyals a year earlier.

In Abu Dhabi, the index lost 0.2 per cent to 4,761 points, as Etisalat and Union National Bank fell 0.9 per cent and 5.4 per cent, respectively.

In Cairo, the main index fell 0.7 per cent to 15,304 points with only 5 of its 30 listed stocks advancing.

Heavyweight Commercial International Bank lost 0.4 per cent and Citadel Capital fell 4.8 per cent while Heliopolis Housing rose 3 per cent.

In Kuwait, the index was 0.5 per cent up at 5,361 points, while Bahrain’s rose 0.4 per cent to 1,357 points.

The Oman index fell 0.3 per cent to 4,434 points.

Oil rose to near $69 per barrel as flaring tensions between the US and Opec member Iran countered growing concerns that trade protectionism will harm economic growth.

Futures added 1 per cent in New York following a third straight weekly decline.

West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery traded at $68.93 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 67 cents, at 11:13am in London. The August contract, which expired on Friday, closed 1.4 per cent higher at $70.46 per barrel. Total volume traded was about 44 per cent below the 100-day average.

Brent for September settlement added 97 cents to $74.04 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London. Prices fell 3 per cent last week. The global benchmark crude tradeed at a $5.12 premium to WTI.