Dubai Shares Fall to 7-Month Low on Global Economic Concern; DFM Declines - Bloomberg

Dubai’s stocks fell to a seven-month low before a meeting of European finance ministers to weigh the threat of a Greek default and as oil declined to the lowest in more than a year.

Emaar Properties PJSC (EMAAR), developer of the world’s tallest skyscraper, decreased 3.7 percent. Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Co., known as Du, retreated to the lowest since March. The DFM General Index (DFMGI) slipped 1.6 percent to 1,407.58, the lowest since March 7, at the 2 p.m. close in Dubai. The value of traded shares in Dubai tumbled to 30.2 million dirhams ($8.2 million) yesterday, the lowest since August 2004. Shares with a value of about 89 million dirhams traded today.

Emerging markets dropped, with the MSCI Asia Pacific Index losing 2.7 percent, before European officials gather today to grapple with how to shield banks from the debt crisis and consider a further boost to the region’s rescue fund. Oil retreated as much as 2.3 percent to $77.36 a barrel as traders speculated Europe’s debt crisis and a slowing U.S. economy will curb fuel demand.

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