UAE stocks fell slightly on Wednesday, dragged down by lower oil prices.
Brent crude futures fell 1.7 per cent to US$43.2 per barrel in morning trading in London after Kuwaiti oil workers ended a three-day strike that cut the country’s oil production by half. Oil prices have fallen this week over the failure of producers in Doha to reach an agreement to freeze output at January levels.
Some company results have also been lower because of the economic slowdown.
“Right now the oil prices and the macro news is impacting the market more than company results,” said Muhammad Shabbir, the head of equities at Rasmala in Dubai. “Obviously the [company] results, particularly, are a lot down and at some stage they will have an impact [on the stock market].”
The Dubai Financial Market General Index declined 0.4 per cent to 3,545.80. Emirates NBD fell 1.8 per cent to Dh8.25. Dubai’s biggest lender on Tuesday reported an 8 per cent increase in first-quarter profit amid a rebound in oil and higher interest rates.
The bourse operator Dubai Financial Market fell 1.9 per cent to Dh1.52. Emaar Malls declined 1.7 per cent to Dh2.88.
The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index fell 0.1 per cent to 4,595.92.
dalsaadi@thenational.ae
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