Dubai stocks rise third day as key indicator signals more gains

Dubai stocks were the biggest gainers across Gulf markets after oil, the region’s main source of revenue, capped its best week since 2009. The DFM General Index climbed a third day to the highest level in more than two months, triggering a technical pattern that suggests bulls have taken control. Emaar Properties PJSC was the biggest contributor to the gauge’s 1.7 per cent advance after Al Khaleej newspaper reported the developer signed an insurance settlement of AED 1.2 billion ($327 million) for a fire that engulfed one of its hotels on New Year’s Eve. “Oil climbed 15 per cent last week and that has a strong impact on investor sentiment, while the news on Emaar’s settlement for the Address hotel fire” is good for the stock, Tariq Qaqish, the managing director for asset management at Al Mal Capital PSC, said by phone from Dubai. Brent crude, a pricing benchmark for about half the world’s oil, advanced to $54.46 a barrel on Friday after Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) approved its first supply cut in eight years. Most governments across the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, home to about a third of the world’s oil, rely on energy sales to fund spending. While Dubai’s economy doesn’t hinge on crude sales, it does depend on its neighbours for trade, commerce and tourism. The DFM General Index’s Moving Average Convergence-Divergence, known as the MACD and used to gauge changes in an asset’s direction or trend, suggested Dubai’s stocks may climb further. The MACD line rose above zero for the first time since September and remained above the red “signal” line. (Arif Sharif and Dana El Baltaji/Bloomberg)