DUBAI: Dubai's index made its largest gain in three weeks yesterday, rebounding from Wednesday's 15-week low as early-morning gains in Asia drew in local bargain hunters, while Egypt extended losses ahead of next week's presidential election.
Other Middle East markets ended mixed, with Abu Dhabi and Oman eking out minor gains while Kuwait and Qatar again fell.
Dubai's index climbed 0.7 percent, its biggest rise since April 24, as volumes slumped to a four-month low. The benchmark has fallen 15.9 percent since a 16-month high on March 5, to be up 9 percent this year.
"If we don't get something to move the markets between now and early June, we will probably be in this range until after Ramadan (in July/August)," said Mohammed Yasin, an Abu Dhabi-based capital markets specialist.
"There's no news to move the market and the negative sentiment from outside looks like increasing rather than decreasing."
Gulf stocks have slid in recent weeks, tracking declines in global markets that have been roiled by deepening turmoil in Greece and fears of contagion spreading to other stressed euro zone economies.
"The noise from Europe is unsettling, which is why we have this weak underlying tone in regional markets," said Ibrahim Masood, senior investment officer at Mashreq Bank.
"Nothing dramatic has changed in the Gulf — company numbers were decent, but there's no near-term catalyst. Until we get clarity on how Europe will pan out, markets will tread water."
Egypt's benchmark index fell 1.3 percent, its fourth straight decline, as nervous investors cut positions ahead of the two-day presidential election that starts on Wednesday.
"Investors are shying away from taking any critical decisions," said Osama Mourad of Arab Finance Brokerage. "Some of the candidates have also recently been talking about imposing capital gains taxes, which has investors worried."
Oil services firm Maridive plunged 8.4 percent, its third straight decline. On Tuesday, it reported a first-quarter loss of $1.6 million.
Palm Hills dropped 6.3 percent, bringing its losses since Sunday to 13 percent. The luxury property developer posted a quarterly loss of 16.3 million pounds on Tuesday.
Orascom Construction Industries fell 0.2 percent after shareholders approved a plan to separate its construction and fertilizer businesses into two new companies.
Kuwait's index fell for a seventh session in eight.
Telecoms operator Zain dropped 4.2 percent and National Bank of Kuwait slid 1.9 percent.
"There aren't many stories in the market to talk about and most of the large-caps have been quite downbeat — banks are showing little growth and the two big telcos aren't doing much," said Shahid Hameed, Global Investment House head of asset management for the Gulf region.
Oman's index rose for a second day since Tuesday's 14-week low, but trading was lackluster with investors diverting funds to subscribe to Bank Nizwa's IPO, which closes next week.
Dubai stock index rebounds from 15-week low
