Revived bourses end the day up

Local markets lurched back to life yesterday with most Gulf bourses ending the day in positive territory. The Dubai and Abu Dhabi stock exchanges rose on property and financials. Abu Dhabi shares were buoyed mostly by Aldar Properties, the emirate's largest property developer. The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) General Index gained 0.4 per cent to close the week at 2506.29. Aldar, the most active stock on the ADX, jumped 1.8 per cent to Dh2.20 a share.

"Aldar has been one of the heaviest sold stocks in the past few weeks ever since it released its earnings," said Hassan el Salah, the head of institutional trading at AlRamz Securities, based in Abu Dhabi. "It has mostly been foreign selling on the stock, except the past few days it's been local and regional buyers on the name." In Dubai, the picture was similar as Emaar Properties, the developer of the world's tallest tower, brought sizeable gains to the index. Emaar closed 1.8 per cent higher at Dh3.25.

The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) General Index added 0.7 per cent to 1492.16. The value of shares traded on the DFM reached Dh111.4 million, compared with a 50-day average of Dh126.9m, according to Bloomberg data. Elsewhere in the region, Kuwait's measure added 0.4 per cent to 6682. Bahrain's index dropped 0.3 per cent to 1409.12. Oman's measure added 0.5 per cent to close at 6328.04. Qatar's index added 0.5 per cent to close at 7114.80 and Saudi Arabia's Tadawul finished 0.66 per cent lower to 6121.06