Interest returns as Dubai stocks gain 20%

The Dubai Financial Market’s General Index made a handsome gain of 20.5 per cent to 1730.4 points at the end of February compared to 1435.7 points at the end of January.

Eight out of the nine indices represented on DFM gained during February, with services sector increasing the most by 159.7 per cent, followed by real estate and financial services sectors by 37 per cent and 33 per cent respectively. The consumer staples sector was unchanged during the month.

Market capitalisation rose 7.8 per cent at Dh199.4 billion compared to Dh185 billion during February. The value of shares traded during the month reached Dh8.7 billion, compared to Dh2.2 billion during January, an increase of 304 per cent . The number of shares traded shot up 267.4 per cent to reach 7.6 billion shares during this month compared to 2.1 billion in January. The number of transactions during February surged 183.8 per cent to reach 1,026,000 compared to 361,000 deals during the previous month.

The real estate and construction sector ranked first in terms of the value of traded shares, to reach Dh4.9 billion or 56.2 per cent of the total value of shares traded in the market. The banking sector ranked second at Dh1.4 billion, or 16.4 per cent, followed by financial services and investment sector with Dh660.8 million, or 7.6 per cent  and the transportation sector with Dh547.1 million, or 6.3 per cent . This was followed by the services sector with Dh540 million or 6.2 per cent , and the insurance sector with Dh 400.7 million or 4.6 per cent , and telecommunication sector with Dh252.3 million, or 2.9 per cent.

The value of shares bought by foreign investors during this month reached Dh3.508 billion or 40.1 per cent of the total value of shares traded. The value of shares sold by foreign investors during the same period reached Dh3.723 billion or 42.6 per cent of the total value traded. DFM’s net foreign investment outflow was Dh215.5 million.

The value of stocks bought by institutional investors during this month reached Dh2.005 billion comprising 22.9 per cent of the total value of shares traded. The value of shares sold by institutional investors during the same period reached Dh1.623 billion or 18.6 per cent of the total value traded. DFM’s net institutional investment inflow amounted to Dh382 million.