Bourses may extend gains

The UAE bourses may consolidate gains this week as investors are upbeat about the possible upgrade to emerging market status from MSCI on Tuesday.

Investors are betting on a possible upgrade by the index compiler MSCI, which may boost indices and increase liquidity by attracting up to $2 billion inflows into the regional markets.

However, the financial analysts said the regional markets are likely to remain under pressure in the coming weeks due to ongoing unrest in the region, the Greek sovereign debt crisis and the slow recovery of the US economy.