Dubai stocks resumed gains on Wednesday as bargain hunters return ahead of first-quarter earnings, lifting the emirate’s benchmark to a fresh 40-month high.
Budget carrier Air Arabia rose 4 percent to a three-week high, accounting for a third of all shares traded. Drake & Scull and Dubai Islamic Bank each climbed 1.2 percent.
Dubai’s bourse, which had fallen in three previous sessions, rose 0.9 percent to 1,985 points, its highest level since December 2009.
The index plunged in the wake of a housing price crash and debt crisis in the emirate and remains 68 percent below a 2008 peak.
“What has surprised some of us is that there is has been an increase in volumes earlier than thought – usually people price in Q1 earnings towards the end of April,” said an Abu Dhabi-based trader who asked not to be identified.
Investors are betting on strong earnings growth, not just for the first quarter but for the year ahead, he adds.
Abu Dhabi’s measure gave back early-session gains and traded near-flat at 3,095 points. It is down 1.2 percent from Sunday’s 41-month high.
Elsewhere, Qatar’s index climbed 0.3 percent to 8,395 points, up for a second session since Monday’s 15-week low.
Industries Qatar, the largest stock by market value, climbed 1.6 percent.
Kuwait’s bourse rose 0.2 percent to 7,061 points, while Oman’s bourse eased 0.03 percent to 6,238 points.
Bank Muscat slipped 1.3 percent after its first-quarter earnings missed.
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