[2008-02-19]  UAE shares drop on profit-taking
UAE shares dropped yesterday on profit taking and speculation that prices have outpaced earnings growth. The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) General Index slid 0.8 per cent to close at 5,707.32 while Abu Dhabis measure slipped 1.4 per cent at 4,717.10 points.

"Investors are merely taking profit, said Jalal Faruki, senior institutional sales associate at Al Mal Securities, in a Bloomberg report. "We have seen gains across the board over the past few days."

Arabtec Holding Co slumped 3.3 per cent to Dh11.55, its largest one-day decline since January 24 while Kuwaits Grand Real Estate Projects Co trailed all other DFM-listed companies with a fall of 10.7 per cent to Dh4.60. Arabtec shares have surged 24 per cent since the beginning of the year.

Gulf Finance House and Commercial Bank of Dubai were also big losers at 3.1 per cent to Dh14.05 and 2.1 per cent to Dh14, respectively, while Arab Insurance Group topped DFM with a jump of 5.7 per cent to Dh3.50.

The measures shares value amounted to Dh727.6 million, paced by DFM Co, the only publicly traded stock exchange in the Middle East. Twenty of the companies that traded on DFM had declined and the rest had advanced.

DP World, a global marine terminal operator and developer owned by the Dubai government, gained nine per cent to $0.97 at the Dubai International Foreign Exchange, the international stock exchange between Western Europe and East Asia.

Source: Copyright © 2001 - 2008, K. Zughaibi & B. Kabbani General Partnership