UAE stock markets were in lacklustre mood yesterday as the summer season got under way, a time when trading activity on the bourses is generally low. Financial institutions led the losses in Dubai as analysts estimates for the second quarter showed an expectation of a slump in profits. Emirates NBD, the country’s largest lender by assets, fell 1.8 per cent to Dh2.66 a share. A consensus of analysts from Egypt’s Beltone Financial, Sico bank in Bahrain and Deutsche Bank forecast that the Dubai-based bank would report a second-quarter profit of Dh632.2 million, down 15 per cent from the year-earlier period. Dubai Financial Market (DFM) Company, the only Middle Eastern bourse selling its shares to the public, fell 1.1 per cent to 98 fils. HSBC analysts expect the company to report a net income of Dh4m – a 72 per cent decline in quarterly profit from the year-earlier period. “Trading patterns are down and trading income from market participation for financial institutions is not evident,” said Marwan Shurrab, the vice president and chief trader at Gulfmena Investments, an asset manager in Dubai. The DFM General Index closed 0.4 per cent lower at 1,498.16 points, while the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index closed 0.1 per cent higher at 2,475.11. Elsewhere in the region, Kuwait’s measure added 0.1 per cent to close at 5,871.71, Bahrain was down 0.05 per cent to 1,121.28, Oman fell 0.2 per cent to 5,561.33, and Qatar was up 0.07 per cent to 8,272.92. The Saudi Tadawul All-Share Index fell 0.07 per cent to 6,855.13 points.