Dubai shares hit two-week high

Dubai shares rose to a two-week high after a senior official said the emirate was under no pressure to sell debt this year. Emirates NBD, the country's biggest bank by assets gained 1.6 per cent while Emaar Properties, the company that built the world's tallest tower, gained 1.2 per cent to Dh3.29.The Dubai Financial Market General Index gained 0.6 per cent to 1,500.15 despite low volumes

"I think we might see some movement before the end of this week," said Samer al Jaouni, the general manager of Middle East Financial Brokerage. "Global markets fell on Thursday and Friday, yet we didn't see any reaction regionally yesterday, which is a positive sign." Dubai's budget deficit this year may be lower than the 2 per cent of GDP forecast, Reuters reported on Monday, citing Dahi Khalfan Tamim, the head of the government's budget committee. "If the government finances are in stronger than expected shape and their ability to support the real estate sector, if necessary, is enhanced, then that can only be seen as good news," Paul Cooper, the managing director at Sarasin-Alpen & Partners in Dubai, told Bloomberg.

Dubai was hit hard by a property slump during the global recession, with selling prices falling by more than 50 per cent in some areas and project cancellations exceeding US$300 billion. Qatar's index declined 0.3 per cent. "Qatar is picking up in terms of volume and value, with appetite from foreign investors increasing, especially for the blue chip industrials and banks," said Mr al Jaouni. The Bahrain All Share Index advanced 0.7 per cent and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index increased 0.2 per cent. Saudi Arabia's Tadawul All Share Index added 0.3 per cent. Kuwait's gauge and Oman's benchmark stock index were little changed.

with Bloomberg and Reuters