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Shares Retreat on Profit Taking

Emaar Properties, the Middle East region’s biggest property company by assets, fell by 2.4 per cent after surging 12.5 per cent on Sunday.

Broad-based profit-taking hit other property and construction-related stocks. Construction heavyweight Arabtec Holding slipped by 2.9 per cent to Dh2.60. Drake & Scull International lost 2.4 per cent to Dh0.80. Deyaar Development declined by 3.1 per cent, while Union Properties gave up 2.6 per cent at Dh0.76. “There was selling pressure on Emaar. The stock surged to a five-month high on speculation it may get government help, but there was no news to support its gains last Sunday,” said Bobby Sarkar, equity research analyst at Al Mal Capital.

The benchmark index of the Dubai Financial Market shed 1.4 per cent at 1,709.80. The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange main index inched down 0.13 per cent to 2,622.51.

“Markets were in two steps forward, one step back mode as half of Sunday’s gains were given back on Monday. These moves are no different than those we are seeing every week, no panic, just healthy retail trader activity,” said Matthew Wakeman managing director of cash-and-equity-linked trading at EFG Hermes.

Banks in Dubai also pulled down the market. Emirates NBD, the country’s biggest bank by assets, edged down nearly 1 per cent at Dh3.08. Dubai Islamic Bank, which partly owns property firm Deyaar, gave up 1.3 per cent at Dh2.34. Energy -related stocks weighed on the Abu Dhabi bourse as sentiment weakened on a slide in oil prices.

Natural gas producer Dana Gas lost by 1.8 per cent to Dh1.08. The Abu Dhabi National Energy Company fell by 2.2 per cent to Dh1.80. Crude oil for July delivery fell as much as 42 cents, or 0.7 per cent, to $61.25 a barrel, in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier, prices had climbed as much as 0.8 per cent to $62.16 a barrel amid a weaker dollar. The contract rose 1 per cent to $61.67 a barrel on May 22, taking its gain for the week to 8.2 per cent. Prices rose last week as the dollar fell 3.7 per cent against the euro on the risk of a US credit rating cut. Abu Dhabi property market leader Aldar Properties, slipped by 0.8 per cent to Dh3.88. Aldar’s Chief Executive John Bullough said the company will be working more on government projects. The company last week sold $1.25 billion worth of bonds. The smaller RAK Properties lost 1.6 per cent to Dh0.63.

· rocel@khaleejtimes.com