Resurgent real estate stocks helped Dubai’s index rise for a second straight session on Monday, with investors seemingly unfazed by the US bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities.
In the first trading day since the attack, Dubai market bellwether Emaar Properties rose 2.8 percent, while smaller rivals Union Properties and Deyaar climbed 4.7 and 4.2 percent respectively.
Increasing numbers of Iranians are seeking to relocate to Dubai and are buying property in the emirate, real estate agents told AGBI.
The emirate’s stock index rose 1.1 percent to 5,411 points, its second successive gain since slipping to a seven-week low on Thursday.
Abu Dhabi’s benchmark climbed 0.5 percent to 9,558 points. Small-cap companies were the biggest gainers and losers on the Dubai and Abu Dhabi bourses, which indicates that retail day traders chasing a quick profit dominated activity. Institutions rarely trade such equities.
Similar occurred on Saudi Arabia’s bourse, with small-cap stocks recording the largest daily moves as the kingdom’s index rose 1.3 percent to 10,710 points, rebounding from Sunday’s 20-month low to trim its 2025 losses to 11.1 percent.
“State oil revenue is under pressure, which means government spending will have to be more targeted and so could impact corporate earnings growth assumptions,” says Aqib Elahi Mehboob, head of sell-side research at BSF Capital in Riyadh.
Brent crude was trading at $76.68 at 12.41 GMT. Oil is up nearly 10 percent since Israel’s surprise attack on Iran on June 13 but is little changed following Saturday night’s US strikes, indicating traders do not believe the intensifying conflict will hurt global crude supplies significantly. Brent is down 10 percent over the past 12 months despite the recent rally.
“Ample storage and plentiful spare capacity bolster oil’s supply resilience,” Julius Baer wrote in a Monday research note. “The risk of the Strait of Hormuz, a key choke point for oil trade, being closed seems low.”
Saudi Aramco was the kingdom’s most active stock by turnover, slipping 0.3 percent to SAR24.7 – less than one riyal above its all-time low share price, which it recorded in March 2020 at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns.
Saudi institutions have been net sellers of more than $3 billion since the start of February, reinvesting the proceeds into other, better-performing assets such as bonds and real estate.
