Shares declined in early morning trade on the first day of Ramadan, traditionally a period of low market activity.
“It’s expected for the first day, there’s no volume,” said Mohammed Ali Yasin, the managing director at National Bank of Abu Dhabi’s brokerage arm. “Some stocks are slowly turning from red into green, hopefully it’s a matter of people waking up late in Ramadan.”
Arabtec Holding, the region’s biggest contracting company, declined as much as 5.4 per cent to trade at Dh2.93 a share on the Dubai Financial Market.
The stock has lost more than 50 per cent of its value over the last two months as the company’s chief executive Hasan Ismaik stepped down.
“There is a lack of clarity over where this company is going,” Mr Yasin said.
Drake & Scull International, another Dubai contracting company, fell 4.3 per cent to Dh1.53 a share.
Other stocks had muted declines. Dubai Islamic Bank lost 0.4 per cent to Dh6.67, while Emaar Properties slipped 0.4 per cent to Dh8.94. The Dubai Financial Market General Index was down 0.8 per cent to 4,185.23 points.
Banks led the declines on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange.
Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank fell 2.9 per cent to 65 fils a share. National Bank of Abu Dhabi declined 2 per cent to Dh14.20, while Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank also lost 2 per cent to Dh7.15. The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index slipped 0.2 per cent to 4,651.97 points.
halsayegh@thenational.ae
