Arabtec rumours continue to swirl

Shares decline for a second day with investors concerned about speculation surrounding the company's two biggest shareholders.

Arabtec’s stock declined 0.4%. Satish Kumar / The National

Arabtec declined for a second day amid concern from investors over speculation surrounding the Dubai contracting company’s two biggest shareholders.

“There’s wild rumours on Arabtec,” said Saleem Khokhar, the head of equities at National Bank of Abu Dhabi.

Arabtec’s stock declined as much as 6.7 per cent during the first half of the trading session on Thursday before recovering some of the losses by the second half. At the close, the stock was down 0.4 per cent to Dh4.43. On Wednesday, the shares fell 9.1 per cent to Dh4.45.

The volatility came amid speculation that Aabar Investments, the company’s second biggest shareholder, won approval from the market watchdog to sell 100 million shares.

Hasan Ismaik, the former chief executive, has been looking to sell his stake in the company since June but has not reached a deal with Aabar. Late last month, he rejected an offer of Dh5 a share.

Most of the trading was focused on stocks that are dominated by retail investors.

Gulf Finance House, the Bahrain-based investment bank, rose 2.6 per cent to 51 fils a share. Union Properties, the Dubai developer, rose 1.4 per cent to Dh2.11. Emaar was up 0.4 per cent to Dh11.

The Dubai Financial Market General Index rose 1 per cent to 4,961.03 points, while the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index also gained a similar 1.2 per cent to 5,180.23.

“For now, it’s very much a short-term momentum-driven market,” Mr Khokhar said. “But the fundamentals of the economy are all very strong.”

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