Dubai: The Dubai index rose on Thursday, extending gains for another session to hit the highest level in more than a week, with buying seen in select stocks, which neared their key resistance area, restoring confidence.
The Dubai Financial Market General Index closed nearly half a per cent higher at 3,371.
“Selective buying continued in the market, lifting it up again to close higher at 3,371, almost closer to the critical resistance of 3,380. Breakout here shall trigger further buying in the markets,” said Shiv Prakash, senior analyst with National Bank of Abu Dhabi Securities.
Buying was also seen in select stocks like Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB), Damac, Gulf Finance House (GFH), Emaar Properties and Drake and Scull.
DIB ended 1.39 per cent higher at Dh5.10, while Emaar Properties ended 0.78 per cent higher at Dh6.47. Gulf Finance House ended more than 3 per cent higher at Dh0.869. Arabtec also rose 0.7 per cent to be at Dh1.43. Dubai Parks and Resorts, one of the outperformer so far in the year, closed 2 per cent higher at Dh1.48.
“Damac formed a reversal pattern on the weekly trend line support at Dh2.24, recovered to close higher at Dh2.44, poised to target Dh2.56 in the coming few sessions. The stock is seen under good accumulation from the last three trading sessions,” Prakash said.
“GFH, which was seen lagging and could not participate with the recent recovery, attracted investors which pushed it higher to close bullish at Dh0.869 level. The fresh breakout will attract further buying and extend the gains to hit Dh0.90 in the near term,” Prakash added.
Overall, traded volumes remained robust at Dh578 million even during Ramadan, a traditional slow month for markets.
“Most of the stocks have formed their near term bottoms and are registering fresh bullish breakouts to target the previous highs. Volumes are gradually picking bringing investors’ confidence back into the markets,” Prakash said.
In Abu Dhabi, the index eased from 1 per cent gains witnessed in the previous session, while volumes also fell. The general index closed 0.62 per cent lower at 4,381.13. Volumes fell to Dh1433 million from Dh1 billion seen on Wednesday.
Elsewhere in the Gulf, Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul index was supported by petrochemical and housing stocks after the government announced to build 1 million homes.
The Tadawul index closed 0.03 per cent higher at 6,606.92, after hitting a high of 6,644.76. Qatar exchange index closed 0.83 per cent lower at 9,836.96. Muscat MSM 30 index closed almost flat at 5,886.06. Kuwait Stock exchange index closed 0.08 per cent higher at 5,410.60.