Dubai shares close on five month high

Dubai's benchmark index closed  at a five-month high on Thursday, spurred by real estate-linked stocks.

National Central Cooling Co (Tabreed) touched a seven-week high, jumping 6.3 percent. Meanwhile, Arabtec continued  its upward trend, climbing 3 percent. The shares are now up 67.3 percent year-to-date. Arabtec accounting for nearly 40 percent of all volume on the Dubai bourse.

However, the largest gainer on the bourse was Shuaa Capital , which jumped 13.5 percent. It hits a seven-week high ahead of its full-year results, which are due to be published on Jan. 13.

Dubai's exchange rose 0.3 percent to 1,487 points, up 9.5 percent year-to-date.

"Overall, the market is in a wait-and-see phase. It's about accumulating and we're seeing the continuation of the upward pressure from the end of January," Marwan Shurrab, vice-president and chief trader at Gulfmena Investments, says.

The Abu Dhabi index made a slight gain, up 0.1 percent on the day to 2,467 points.

Aldar Properties and Sorouh Real Estate accounted  for nearly 65 percent of all shares traded on the exchange. They ended Thursday up 3.2 and 3.4 percent respectively.

The Oman index ended  the week in marginally-negative territory, down 0.02 percent at 1,967 points, with banks dragging.

Bank Muscat, the largest stock on the bourse by market capitalisation, fell 1.1 percent, Bank Sohar dropped 1.3 percent and Oman International Bank slipped 0.4 percent.

In Kuwait, the index gained 0.2 percent to 5,864 points, with volumes on the bourse just shy of their highest in 13 months.

In Qatar, the bourse traded near flat, ending Thursday down 0.01 percent at 8,690 points.