[2008-03-31]  Dubai shares slip 2.9pc; investors await Q1 results
Shares in Dubai tumbled 2.9 per cent yesterday to close at 5,248.88 while those in Abu Dhabi lost 1.3 per cent at 4,602.56 points, as investors await listed companies to report their first-quarter earnings.

Dubai Investments, which owns stakes in at least 44 companies, lost for a fifth day as it started a joint venture while Sorouh Real Estate Co had its lowest close in two months after founding members were cleared to sell their shares in the company.

The markets also fell on concern that a possible recession in the US would deter investments in the UAE and the whole Middle East. "We are not seeing a lot of fresh capital being injected into the market," said Blair Look, head of asset management at Al Mal Securities, in a Bloomberg report. "Earnings might be the next catalyst."

US stocks fell for the fourth time in five weeks while consumer spending rose at the slowest pace in more than a year last month. Dubai Investments declined 3.7 per cent to Dh5 on the Dubai Financial Market General Index. The company, which will set up a Dh130-million ($35.4 million) plant with Frances Gaussin SA, brought its five-day slump to 11 per cent.

DFM Co, the only publicly traded stock exchange in the Middle East, slipped 6.6 per cent to Dh4.92 while the regions biggest courier company, Aramex, slid 3.6 per cent to Dh2.70 and UAEs Air Arabia slumped 2.7 per cent to Dh1.81.
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