Oil rises but UAE stocks continue to take hit amid Egypt unrest

Markets Update: Oil prices bubble upwards after Saudi Arabia's national oil producer said it expects no increase in production until 2015.

Oil prices rose this morning as traders bet that a slowdown in Saudi Arabian crude production would squeeze crude supplies.

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Brent crude futures rose 57 cents to $107.02 per barrel in early trading, after the kingdom's national oil producer, Saudi Aramco, indicated that production would be unlikely to increase until 2015.

Khalid Al-Falih, Saudi Aramco's chief executive officer, told Bloomberg News on Monday that the company does not plan to increase crude production until after the Manifa oilfield comes online in 2015.

The Dubai Financial Market General Index extended its recent run of losses, falling 0.4 per cent to 1,349.64, while the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index slid 0.4 per cent to 2,439.95.

Blue chip stocks took a beating on both markets. Emaar Properties fell 1.1 per cent to Dh2.51 a share as unrest continued in Egypt, where Dubai's biggest property developer is working on a number of major projects. In the capital, the National Bank of Abu Dhabi fell 3.3 per cent to Dh10.05 per share.

Egyptian stocks continued their losses yesterday, with the EGX30 Index down 7.5 per cent this week. The index hit a two-year low yesterday as violent unrest and political uncertainty intensified.

Asian stocks dropped slightly in the early hours of the morning, with the Hang Seng index losing 0.5 per cent to 18,125.51. Japan's Nikkei 225 index declined 0.4 per cent to 8,314.74.

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