MIDEAST STOCKS-Real estate boosts Dubai; earnings misses weigh on Saudi sentiment | Reuters

MIDEAST STOCKS-Real estate boosts Dubai; earnings misses weigh on Saudi sentiment | Reuters:



"* Dubai index testing major technical resistance



 * Nears 50 pct retracement of drop from January 2008 peak



 * Saudi's Savola slides after Q4 earnings miss estimates

* Qatar Islamic Bank climbs after Q4 net more than triples



 * Level of demand in Mesaieed Petrochemical IPO not yet clear



 By Nadia Saleem

DUBAI, Jan 20 (Reuters) -



Dubai's bourse surged on Monday, led by real estate-related shares, as investors bet on a further rebound in the emirate's property prices. Other regional markets were mixed, with Saudi Arabia soft after some high-profile earnings misses.



 Dubai's residential property prices in 2013 rose 22 percent on average while rents improved 17 percent, consultants Jones Lang Lasalle said in a report on Sunday; they predicted further gains this year, though at a slower pace as new supply comes onstream.



 Union Properties climbed 2.7 percent and Deyaar Development jumped 6.0 percent. In a fresh sign of optimism in the sector, Kleindienst Group said it had started building a huge resort complex on the World, the man-made archipelago off Dubai's coast which has been left mostly vacant since the emirate's real estate crash in 2008."



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