Banks, utilities and real estate stocks climbed to aid Dubai's recovery. Emirates NBD, the largest bank in the Gulf in terms of assets, advanced 2.1 per cent to Dh11.95, Tamweel edged up 1.4 per cent to Dh8 and Amlak was up 0.8 per cent to close at Dh4.90. Emaar, the biggest Arab real estate developer, remained unchanged at Dh11.30. However, Union Properties, after a decline a day before, turned around to post a gain of 0.4 per cent to Dh5.09.
The unprecedented growth in real estate prices has encouraged the practice of using personal loans to purchase off-plan properties for a small down-payment and ride the wave of the price appreciation powered by leveraged returns.
This exposure is hard to separate from the personal loans numbers reported from the banks and could be an additional exposure to the real estate sector.
Analysts believe this is the tip of the iceberg as the UAE capital has yet to unveil the major projects that will help it to realise its 2030 vision, which will more than triple the current population.
Many of these projects are being showcased at Cityscape Abu Dhabi, which closes today after extending the show by one day at government request.
He said The Land has partly delivered their project in Jordan, while one tower out of the proposed 17 to be built on Qatar's Pearl Island will be delivered by December this year.
"We are also going to develop Perlita Island in Qatar where we are planning a residential and tourist project. As well, we will build an office project in Qatar's Energy City," said El-Helou.
With oil prices likely to remain relatively high over the next few years, the country’s economic boom looks set to continue in the near term. Oil is likely to play a crucial role in UAE’s growth in the next few years. However, non-oil GDP is likely to dominate overall growth in real and nominal terms with private sector playing a bigger role in future helped by surge in oil prices that has boosted the oil earnings and helped to underpin public investment and private confidence. Going forward, the government’s main challenges include pushing ahead with diversification into more labor intensive activities, and leverage the Emirate’s strong hydrocarbon sector to stimulate and support broader economic growth.
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Fitch said it expects banks to perform strongly in 2008, given that performances rely heavily on core banking activities, and also in the light of continuous strong demand for credit.
Despite sector loan growth of 40 percent in 2007 and strong growth in prior years, asset quality remained sound in 2007, Fitch noted.
Samba Financial Group, the second-largest bank in the kingdom, gained 6.1 percent to 95.5 riyals.
The Kuwait Stock Exchange Index retreated 0.6 percent, while the Bahrain All Share Index advanced 0.4. Oman's Muscat Securities Market 30 Index dropped 0.4 percent and Qatar's Doha Stock Market lost 0.2 percent.
Doha Bank Ltd. gained 3.9 percent to 84.7 riyals. Qatar's fifth-biggest lender by market value was rated ``overweight'' in new coverage at Morgan Stanley with a price estimate of 111 riyals.
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Rick Pudner, CEO, Emirates NBD, said: “This award reflects Emirates NBD’s vision of being the key player in the banking and finance industry in the country and the region. Being named as the best bank in the UAE is a triumph for the bank's shareholders, management and staff, and motivates us to step up our efforts to continuously improve our performance and exceed our stakeholders expectations.”
The Global Finance award, follows two awards received by Emirates NBD to date this year including: Best Foreign Exchange Bank in the UAE and Best Emerging Market Bank in the UAE.
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"Abu Dhabi wanted to show that it's aware of its carbon footprint today," says Khaled Awad, the man in charge of building Masdar City. He says Abu Dhabi has already committed $4 billion for the project and plans to raise another $18 billion.
This scale of investment is attracting attention. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has signed on to help Abu Dhabi establish the Masdar Institute, an institute devoted to research in renewable energy.
In Dubai Financial Market, the top three gainers were Dubai Islamic Insurance and Reinsurance, Gulf navigation and Al Mazaya Holdings, up 5.58 per cent, 4.38 per cent and 4.35 per cent respectively.
Deyaar development had a mixed week, up 3.1 per cent over Wednesday to close at Dh2.32.
ny about the ongoing investigations into alleged fraud might have helped to soothe the sentiments of the investors.
The directors anticipate that Silverjet will enter into binding agreements in respect of this initial tranche of the investment imminently.
Upon completing the investment, it is intended that the investor will appoint two representatives to Silverjet's board of directors.
The signing follows the public launch of the policy document by the UAE on the evaluation and potential development of nuclear energy within the UAE. The UAE policy includes a number of commitments and strategies designed to ensure that these principles would be upheld by any UAE domestic nuclear programme, including a pledge to forego any domestic enrichment or reprocessing capability in favour of long-term external fuel supply arrangements.
