Morningstar to cover 27 UAE stocks

An interantional equity research firm will start coverage of 27 UAE stocks this month, as part of a deal with Daman Securities.

Chicago-based Morningstar will target retail investors and its data will be available to Daman clients free of charge on its online trading portal.

“We believe there is sufficient data and transparency to be able to go forward with a valid independent opinion,” said Morningstar’s director of equity research, Pat Dorsey.

Equity markets usually give the first indication when there is a problem in the economy, but are also first to react to a solution, said Daman's chief executive Shehab Gargash.

However, it was too early to say whether the worst was over for Gulf equities this year, he added.

“I don’t know if we have reached bottom because I want to know what the companies report for 2008. There is a systemic issue today rather than a market issue, and that systemic issue hasn’t necessarily been resolved to the satisfaction of the market,” Gargash told Arabian Business.

Morningstar provides data on more than 290,000 investment offerings, including stocks and mutual funds. The company has operations in 19 countries and minority ownership positions in three other countries.

Dubai-based Daman Investments was founded in 1998 and is capitalized at 200 million dirhams ($54.5 million). Its Second Emirates Fund and Islamic Fund are down 57.15 percent and 56.35 percent respectively, in the year to date. Its Speculator Fund, founded in August last year, is up 5.86 percent.

Daman does not disclose the size of its funds but says they have an upper limit of 200 million dirhams.

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