UAE stock market takes a tumble
Monday, April 20, 2009
UAE stock market takes a tumble
War fears and general jitters about stock market investments undermined confidence in the UAE bourse last week, as reality caught up with investors.
Brokers said it was as though investors had suddenly woken up to the threat posed by a possible US invasion of Iraq to the general business outlook in the emirates. For at the very least a short term interruption to the normal order flow and tourism seems inevitable.
All the sector indices were down, except for the property sector. The financial sector, which makes up half the full index, was down from 2,392.21 to 2,351.29 points. Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank and the Commercial Bank of Dubai were the biggest losers.
Interestingly, property shares were unchanged. No doubt investors note that the UAE property boom is still in full swing, and indeed, to some extent, property is now seen as a more solid investment than shares.
Buying shares in property companies is, of course, very much the same thing, without the fuss and bother that comes with property ownership. However, neither Emaar Properties nor Union Properties have seen their share prices shift higher over the past year, surely an anomaly that will be corrected in due course.
However, UAE shares were not alone in falling last week. The Bahrain Stock Exchange was down 4.3%, Kuwait by 1.9%, Oman by 1.6%, Qatar by 1.6%, and Saudi Arabia by 0.3%. War fears and plummeting global equity markets took their toll on investor sentiment across the GCC
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