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Oman hits 22-month low; Property stocks lift

Muscat, May 29, 2011

Muscat's index dropped 0.5 per cent to end at 5,953 points, its lowest close since July 2009, while construction and property stocks led Dubai's index to a higher close on Sunday.

Oman's Renaissance Services fell for a third day, dropping 3.7 per cent. The company officials met with analysts and issued a bleak outlook for 2011, said analysts, with some expecting the firm to cancel a listing of its unit Topaz, which was delayed in March.

'We expect the index to stabilise at current levels, as the (technical) indicators are positive,' said Osama Ibrahim al-Qinna, head of brokerage at Oman Arab Bank, as the Muscat index neared a 22-month low.

Although investors remain cautious in this volatile environment, we have noticed that market volumes are strongly supported by bluechip stocks.'

Oman Telecommunications Company (Omantel) climbed 2.1 per cent and National Bank of Oman added 0.6 per cent, but Bank Muscat slipped 0.1 per cent and Galfar Engineering tumbled 4.4 per cent.

Elsewhere, Dubai's Emaar Properties gained 2 per cent after its Saudi affiliate Emaar Economic City received $1.33 billion loan from the kingdom's finance ministry to speed up construction of a project.

Contractor Arabtec, which is active in Saudi Arabia, climbed 3.2 per cent. Dubai's benchmark gained 0.7 per cent to close at 1,545 points, rising for a second session since Wednesday's two-month low.

Abu Dhabi' s benchmark rose 0.4 per cent to 2,608 points, rallying after slumping to a seven-week intraday low in early trade. Aldar Properties led by volumes and rose 2.2 per cent, while Sorouh Real Estate gained 1.6 per cent.

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank climbed 2.6 per cent, rising from Thursday's month-low, when it converted 4.8 billion dirhams ($1.31 billion) bonds issued in 2008 into 785.6 million shares, raising its capital level.-Reuters




Tags: low | Oman index | Property stocks |

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