Arabtec lifts Dubai index; banks steady

Arabtec surges on high volumes, lifting Dubai's index, although analysts say there is no news on the stock.

Arabtec climbs 4 per cent to 2.83 dirhams, having closed the previous day at 2.72, and accounts for more than half of all shares changing hands on the benchmark. "There's no news on the stock - the buying levels are in the 2.70s (dirhams) and the selling levels in the 2.90s (dirhams)," says Shawkat Raslan, Prime Emirates head of sales. On Wednesday, HC Research cut its share-price target on Arabtec by 6 per cent to 3.94 dirhams. Dubai banks are unaffected by the UAE central bank governor a day earlier warning the country's lenders would have to take further from provisions against bad loans.Dubai Islamic Bank climbs 1.3 per cent, while the little-traded Emirates NBD and Mashreq Bank are unchanged. The index climbs 0.7 per cent to 1,832 points.