GCC Equities Review: Dubai the worst performer as property shares slide | ZAWYA MENA Edition

GCC Equities Review: Dubai the worst performer as property shares slide | ZAWYA MENA Edition:

Trading in stocks listed both in Dubai and Abu Dhabi slumped during the first half of the year as investors who would normally be buying its shares opted for potentially more lucrative returns elsewhere. Data from Thomson Reuters Eikon showed that trading volumes in both of the equity markets in the United Arab Emirates remained weak, with the Dubai Financial Market down 55 percent in volume terms in the first half of the year, while volumes of trades on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange dropped by 49 percent.

Mohamad Al-Hajj, vice-president and head of MENA strategy at EFG Hermes, said the decline in volumes was mainly a result of “a lack of catalysts” spurring investment.

“If we look at the macroeconomic fundamentals and even the valuation, the UAE is the most attractive from a valuation perspective. Dubai is trading at 7x forward earnings and a 6 percent dividend yield, and that is a valuation it was trading at when oil was around $27 a barrel,” he said in a telephone interview.