Investors seeking safety keep feeding DFM's longest rally in six years

Dubai's market staged its longest rally in six years as traders looked to the emirate as a safe haven for investment

Emirates NBD gained 2.7 per cent yesterday.

Dubai shares extended their longest rally in six years as investors looked to the emirate as a haven amid political turmoil.

The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) General Index yesterday posted a 10th consecutive day of gains, adding 0.06 per cent, and closed the week at 1,681.93.

Emirates NBD, the country's largest bank by assets, was the top gainer as it advanced 2.7 per cent to Dh3.80. The movement was on only about 181,000 shares traded.

Shares in DFM Company, the trading name of the Arab world's only publicly listed exchange, were the most active, with volume surpassing 37 million shares.

"More and more people are taking cash from under the pillow and taking it to market," said Mohammed Ali Yasin, the chief investment officer at CAPM Investment. "There's a new confidence in the market," he said.

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange also closed slightly higher, at 2,711.15, boosted by shares in Dana Gas.

The company closed nearly 3 per cent higher at 71 fils, its highest since the end of January, on speculation that the energy giant was looking at a London listing.

Elsewhere in the region: Kuwaiti shares reversed early losses to close 0.1 per cent higher at 6,442.50; Qatar's index closed up 0.2 per cent at 8,647.73; Bahrain's bourse closed flat at 1,400.83; Muscat's measure closed 0.2 per cent lower at 6,353.31; and Egypt's benchmark index gained 0.3 per cent to close at 5,002.25. The Saudi Tadawul was closed for the day.