JEDDAH/DUBAI: Dubai’s index ended higher as stocks rallied from the previous day’s seven-week closing low, but further volatility is expected as the UAE’s results season gets under way.

Emaar Properties rose 1.7 percent and Arabtec climbed 3.4 percent.

“Earnings season will provide both positive and negative leads, which will keep the market volatile in the short term, probably more with a negative bias,” Jithesh Gopi, head of research at SICO investment bank, said.

Union Properties dropped 5.6 percent, extending losses since Credit Suisse slashed its price target on the stock to 0.03 dirhams from 0.80 dirhams.

The Dubai index climbed 0.6 percent to 1,565 points, trimming its losses to 13.2 percent this year.

“Everything is possible in Dubai at this point of time — people are aware that the information coming out of Dubai is very much lacking in quality and quantity,” Gopi said.

This lack of disclosure is adding to selling pressure on the Dubai bourse, Gopi added.

The Abu Dhabi index edged up 0.1 percent to 2,602 points. Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank rebounded from an initial drop to end flat, a day after reporting a fourth-quarter loss on record provisions, helping Abu Dhabi’s index ease away from Tuesday’s seven-week closing low.

“I believe this is just pure speculation — the results should have had a negative effect on the stock,” Samer Al-Jaouni, general manager of Middle East Financial Brokerage Co., said. “There was technical pressure on the stock for a couple of days and it could have just been a technical rebound.”

Kuwait’s index suffered its largest one-day decline for more than three weeks as bellwether Zain slumped to a 35-week low on earnings fears.

Zain fell 5.3 percent to its lowest finish since May 25.

“Expectations for Q4 earnings are weighing heavily on Zain and there is some serious selling pressure is coming through,” Shahid Hameed, Global Investment House head of asset management for the Gulf region, said.

On Saturday, affiliate Zain Saudi Arabia said it was in talks with creditors after it failed to honor some commitments linked to an Islamic Murabaha loan.

“Zain Saudi Arabia looks like it could be in serious financial difficulty and there are expectations it could have to recapitalize, which is adding to the negative sentiment on Zain,” Hameed said. “Zain is a bellwether stock and so whenever it comes under pressure the rest of the market does too.”

National Industries Group (NIG) fell 7.5 percent after Moody’s Investor Services downgraded the Kuwait firm, maintaining a negative outlook.

The Kuwaiti index drooped 1.3 percent to 6,975 points, its largest one-day loss since Jan. 4.

Bahrain’s measure rose 0.2 percent to 1,474 points. Qatar’s index slumped to a new six-month low as stocks dropped on low volumes. The index declined 1.1 percent to 6,503 points, its lowest finish since July 23 as 7.7 million shares changed hands, which is a third below the 12-month average.

Oman’s index hit a 10-day high. The index surged 1.2 percent to 6,518 points.

Banks fell slightly, weighing on Saudi Arabia’s index in early trading, which was steady despite further losses on other regional benchmarks.

The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) closed 0.06 percent down at 6,252.71.Another negative day for the market, with four advancing sectors, which were the Cement, Energy & Utilities, Banks & Financial Services and the Multi-Investment sector, 0.14 percent, 0.19 percent, 0.25 percent and 1.12 percent respectively. On the other hand, negative sector movement ranged from 0.06 percent in the Agriculture & Food Industries to 0.99 percent in the Transport sector. The Hotel & Tourism sector however was the only sector that showed no change. Overall market breadth was negative with 44 advancers and 65 decliners, giving an AD ratio of 0.68, the Jeddah-based Financial Transaction House said in its daily market commentary.

— With input from agencies