DFM remains flat amid marginal selling

Equities on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) continued to trade at lower levels yesterday following marginal selling activity in the absence of any fresh buying support.

Despite the Dubai Government's announcement that it has not made any offer to Dubai World's creditors and no offer would come before March or April, the bourse continued to reel under pressure in lacklustre trading.

The DFM General Index closed flat on the lower side yesterday, slipping by a marginal 0.20 per cent to end the session at 1614.21 points, a net fall of 3.30 points.

Indicating the undercurrent of dampened market sentiment, 14 stocks fell, seven advanced and an equal number of stocks remained unchanged at their previous levels. The telecom sub index fell 1.04 per cent, while finance/investment, insurance and real estate indices recorded losses of less than a per cent. On the other hand, the banking and transport indices gained less than 0.50 per cent.

The market opened on a weak note at 1613 points, with Emaar, Arabtec, DFM, DIB, Union Properties (UP) and du stocks trading lower, while Tabreed and Air Arabia stocks were moving upwards.

Vyas Jayabhanu, Head of Al Dhafra Financial Broker, told Emirates Business: "Yesterday, the market again witnessed continuing downward movements. Rumours hit the market sentiment very badly, dampening the spirit of trading. The DFM General Index may even slip to the 1560-points level soon. Since global markets are also trading down, no single positive factor was visible on the DFM."

Market bellwether Emaar's shares fell 0.99 per cent and closed at Dh3.01, while DSI and Deyaar shares moved up. Deyaar added 2.04 per cent and closed at Dh.0.50, while DSI gained 1.19 per cent to close at Dh0.85. Arabtec fell 2.31 per cent to close at Dh2.11.

The trading took off on a modest Dh9 million turnover. Indicating uncertain sideways trading, the index immediately went up to 1622.90 points, which remained the session's high, and then slipped again to 1599.40 points at 11:30am. The index reached both the day's high and low levels in the very first half of the trading and fluctuated in a narrow range of 12 points in the second half.

"Intraday, if the market remains below the pivot levels of 1611 points, it could fall until the 1600/1587 support. A break above 1611 points can lead to a bullish rally until the 1635-point resistance," said Shiv Prakash, senior technical analyst at MAC Capital.

The major gainers were Global with 8.11 per cent, Al Salam Sudan with 2.59 per cent, Deyaar with 2.04 per cent, EmiratesNBD with 1.96 per cent and DSI with 1.19 per cent.

Thin volumes affect the market

With market sentiment on the slide, the DFM witnessed a modest turnover of Dh196.91 million yesterday with 120.90 million shares changing hands in 3,129 deals in 28 stocks on the bourse.

"Surprisingly, foreign investors entered the market and exited same day owing to the prevailing adverse conditions. Investors and institutions were not coming forward to hold their positions. That is the reason why trading volumes were low. A breather for the market can be expected tomorrow," said Vyas Jayabhanu.

Emaar continued to top the list of volume pushers, recording a Dh79.47m turnover, which accounted for 40.35 per cent of the total trading on the bourse. "Volumes are extremely low and there was not much of trading interest seen in the market," said Shiv Prakash, senior technical analyst at MAC Capital.

Other major value churners were Arabtec with Dh25.85m, DFM with Dh23.56m, DIB with Dh15.98m and DSI with Dh15.53m. Major volume pushers included DSI with 18.27 million shares and DFM with 15.84 million shares.


UP and GFH decline

Union Properties, Gulf Finance House and Jeema Mineral Water announced their financial results yesterday. UP and GFH shares fell as their results disappointed the market, while Jeema announced a rise in its net profit.

Union Properties recorded a third consecutive quarterly loss, as high provisions for property valuations took a toll on its margins. UP shares fell two per cent and closed at Dh0.49 as the stock witnessed a modest turnover of Dh3.79m and volume of 7.6 million shares.

The DFM resumed trading in GFH shares after it disclosed the results of its board meeting held on Sunday. With a drop of 7.34 per cent, the GFH stock was a major loser on the bourse, closing at Dh1.01. The stock recorded Dh6.2m in trading value and a volume of 6.21 million shares.

The total revenue of Jeema went up from Dh48.39m to Dh55m in 2009, while net profit for the period increased to Dh4.39m from Dh2.68m.

Trading in Jeema shares is yet to resume on the DFM.

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