Emirates NBD, the UAE's largest lender by assets, posted a 30 per cent drop in full year net profit, as it became the first UAE bank to record a dip in income.
"It's a weak set of numbers from Emirates NBD," said Shehzad Janab, head of asset management and advisory at Daman Investments in Dubai, who added that weak sentiment from Asian markets was likely to feed into the local markets.
The bank's shares rose 1.6 per cent to Dh3.21.
Japan's Nikkei fell 0.1 per cent and the Hang Seng slipped 1.54 percent as Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said recovery in the US economy was still fragile.
The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) General Index rose 0.3 per cent to 1,608.33 points and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) edged 0.2 per cent higher to 2,714.11 points.
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National Central Cooling Company, or Tabreed, said it swung to a full year net profit of Dh136.8 million for 2010, from a loss of Dh.1.12 billion a year earlier.
The utility company rose 10.1 per cent in Dubai, the highest intraday gain since November 1.
It also said it has obtained backing from all its creditors for a Dh5 billion restructuring plan.
Cairo's stock exchange is due to re-open on Sunday. It follows a 16 per cent drop over a two-day period after protests against the Mubarak regime escalated.
