Dubai’s shares rallied to the highest level in more than a year after U.S. consumer confidence beat expectations and oil rose from a one-week low, boosting optimism in global economic growth.
Arabtec Holding, the UAE’s biggest construction company, jumped to the highest since October 2008. Dubai Financial Market PJSC, the only publicly traded Gulf Arab stock market, surged 7.1 percent. Dubai’s DFM General Index advanced 1.8 percent to 1,729.46, the highest intraday level since November 2010, at 11:23 am in the emirate. The Bloomberg GCC 200 Index of Persian Gulf stocks rose for a 13th day, gaining 0.1 percent.
“Once the fear globally dissipated, investors started to pay attention to the positive local news out there, and there is a lot,” including valuations and infrastructure spending, said Saad al-Chalabi, an institutional trader at Al Ramz Securities in Abu Dhabi. “The breadth of this rally globally gives us confidence that local gains are sustainable for the medium and long term.”
Dubai’s shares have rallied 27 percent so far this year after improved earnings and dividends boosted investor confidence. The 31 stocks in the benchmark are valued at an average 0.78 times net assets. That compares with 1.74 times for emerging market stocks. Abu Dhabi’s shares have also advanced after the government said in January it plans to resume real- estate projects after reviewing their viability. Abu Dhabi’s ADX General Index increased 0.3 percent, rising for a ninth day in its longest stretch of gains since April 18.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index yesterday climbed 0.3 percent. The Conference Board’s index of consumer confidence increased in February to the highest level in a year, figures from the New York-based research group showed yesterday. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index rallied 1.1 percent today.
Oil for April delivery gained as much as 0.6 percent to $107.15 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gulf Arab oil exporters, including Qatar and the U.A.E., supply about a fifth of the world’s oil.
Arabtec advanced 4 percent to AED3.64. Dubai Financial Market climbed to AED1.07, the highest since Oct. 3. Volumes in the emirate have picked up this month, reaching 419 million shares today, compared with the 12-month daily average of 121 million shares.
Oman’s MSM 30 Index rose 0.5 percent and Bahrain’s BB All Share Index was little changed. Qatar’s QE Index increased 0.2 percent while Kuwait’s Stock Exchange Price Index fell 0.7 percent.
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