Gulf shares brush aside Turkey unrest, close higher after early losses

The failed coup attempt in Turkey is expected to have little financial impact on the Gulf because trade and investment ties are relatively minor.

UAE shares opened the week in positive territory on Sunday, with stocks across the Arabian Gulf showing no impact from the political unrest in Turkey.

The failed attempt by elements of the Turkish military to overthrow its president Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday evening was shrugged off by regional markets, with Bloomberg’s GCC 200 Index ending the day up 0.2 per cent.

The Dubai Financial Market General Index drifted lower at the open, but gained steadily throughout the day, ending up 0.4 per cent at 3,488.27, with du shares among the best performers of the day.

Shares in Emaar Properties, which has had a presence in Turkey for 10 years, and Air Arabia, which offers flights to Istanbul and Antalya, ended the day unchanged.

Arabtec shares dominated trade on Sunday, accounting for nearly a third of total volumes on Dubai's headline index. The construction company's shares closed up 4.6 per cent at an 11-week high of Dh1.57.

Demand for Arabtec shares had a knock-on effect on its fellow construction firm Drake and Scull International, whose shares closed up 1.2 per cent at 57.4 fils.

The stock market in the capital meanwhile closed up 0.4 per cent at 4,597.45, thanks to gains from FGB and Aldar Properties.

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank shares led losses on the Abu Dhabi bourse, closing down 4.2 per cent at Dh3.79, despite the bank’s second-quarter profit coming in ahead of analysts’ estimates last week.

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