• Home
• /
• Local business

DFM shares surge to highest 
this month; IMF lifts outlook

DUBAI — Dubai shares increased to the highest level this month, leading gains in Gulf markets, as the International Monetary Fund raised its global growth forecast, oil gained and Drake & Scull International won a contract.

Dubai’s DFM General Index climbed 1.2 per cent to 1,499.81, the highest since June 28, bringing the gain for the week to 2 per cent. Drake & Scull increased a fourth time this week. Emaar Properties PJSC, developer of the world’s tallest tower, jumped 3.2 per cent, pushing Dubai’s real-estate index to the highest this month. The Bloomberg GCC 200 Index added 0.3 per cent.

An improved global outlook helped boost investor sentiment, said Saud Masud, a Dubai-based analyst at UBS AG. “Local markets are still searching for a catalyst.”

The IMF raised its global economic growth forecast for this year, reflecting a stronger-than-expected first half. The world economy will expand 4.6 per cent in 2010, the biggest gain since 2007, compared with an April projection of 4.2 per cent, the Washington-based fund said late on Wednesday. The MSCI World Index of developed nations climbed 0.8 per cent at 4:43 pm in Dubai.

The IMF also warned that financial-market turmoil has increased the risks to the recovery. “Investors should sell into any strength till the dust clears up a bit both globally and locally,” Masud said.

Crude for August delivery advanced to the highest in a week, gaining as much as 1.4 per cent to $75.10 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The six nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council supply about a fifth of the world’s oil.

Drake & Scull

Drake & Scull increased 1.8 per cent to 81.4 fils, the highest since June 22. The company won a Dh460 million ($125 million) contract for works on the Information Technology and Communications Centre in Riyadh, 
Saudi Arabia.

Emaar climbed to Dh3.22, the highest since June 27. The DFM Real Estate Index gained 2.6 per cent. Oman’s MSM30 Index and Abu Dhabi’s benchmark index rose 0.2 per cent. The QE Index advanced 0.4 per cent, Bahrain’s gauge climbed 0.3 per cent, while the Kuwait Stock Exchange Index fell 0.3 per cent. Saudi Arabia’s market was closed for the 
weekend. —