Arabtec shares buck UAE trend with 8% rise

MARKETS DOWN: UAE stock exchanges rose in trading early on Monday. (Getty Images)

Markets in the UAE ended lower as investors worried about the impact of the global credit crisis on the country's economy.

In Dubai, the index ended 0.61 percent lower at 1,948 points, with Emaar Properties losing 1.64 percent.

"Sentiment is not that good because of the credit crunch," said Alfred Fayek, director of the GCC institutional desk team at EFG-Hermes.

"In Dubai, people are also worried about bad news from the property sector, with job cuts and so on," he added.

Arabtec Holding bucked the falling trend, ending 8.39 percent higher on media reports it was awarded a new project in Abu Dhabi.

Abu Dhabi's benchmark fell 0.71 percent to 2,713 points. The index has lost more than 40 percent since the beginning of the year.

Etisalat lost 1.61 percent, while Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank declined 2.39 percent.

Saudi Arabia's benchmark ended 1.3 percent higher at 4,842 points as investors bought shares in companies they believe will have positive fourth-quarter results.

Saudi Basic Industries Corp and Al Rajhi Bank gained 0.87 percent and 0.86 percent respectively.

Kuwait's main index ended 0.62 percent higher at 8,966 points as a planned government fund to shore up stocks lifts investor sentiment.

"The government bailout is helping investor confidence," said Ammar Hajeyah, assistant manager at Global Investment House.

"The market is starting to stabilise at these levels and people are positioning themselves towards the end of the year. All the major players are allocating their assets so as to achieve high dividend yields," he added.

The Kuwaiti government said last month it would invest at least 1.5 billion dinars ($5.45 billion) in stocks to boost confidence in the exchange.

Mobile Telecommunications Co (Zain) gained 1.75 percent while Agility rose 5.06 percent.

The Doha benchmark ended 1.19 percent higher at 6,496 points as moves to shore up the country's banking sector helped sentiment and investors deemed valuations as cheap ahead of 2008 cash dividend payouts.

Industries Qatar rose 3.02 percent, while Qatar Commercial Bank gained 4 percent.

In Oman, the main index closed 2.15 percent lower at 5,965 points, as investors worry about the impact of the global financial crisis and as they await a government fund to shore up stock markets.

Bank Muscat and National Bank of Oman declined 4.88 percent and 4.51 percent lower respectively.

Bahrain's benchmark closed 0.73 percent lower at 1,918 points.

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