Dubai shares rise most in a month

Dubai’s benchmark stock index advanced the most in almost a month led by Emaar Properties as emerging-market stocks and crude oil rebounded. Emaar rose 2.4 per cent after the developer of the world’s tallest tower in Dubai said it will begin selling apartments overlooking a Golf course. Arabtec advanced the most in a week. The benchmark DFM General Index added 1.5 per cent, the most since April 24, to 1,488.09 at the close, trimming the drop for the past month to 9.2 per cent. “Irrespective of news, markets are oversold, so we were bound to see a technical rebound,” said Haissam Arabi, chief executive officer of Gulfmena Investments in Dubai. The 31 companies on Dubai’s index are valued at 9.9 times estimated earnings compared with 12 times for Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index and 9.8 for the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. Dubai’s measure is the second-best performer in the Arabian Gulf region so far this year after Kuwait with an advance of 10 per cent after companies including Emaar posted first-quarter net income that beat estimates. About 135 million shares traded in Dubai on Monday, compared with this year’s March 5 peak of 835 million. Emaar gained to Dh2.95 in the biggest advance since April 22. Arabtec rose 1.4 per cent, the most since May 14, to Dh2.9. Aabar Investments boosted its stake in Arabtec to 21.57 per cent, Dubai bourse data posted after the market close showed. Saudi Arabia’s measure rose 0.6 per cent. Abu Dhabi’s ADX General Index and Qatar’s QE Index increased 0.2 per cent. Oman’s MSM30 Index gained 0.1 per cent, while Kuwait’s gauge slipped 0.1 per cent.