Dubai hovers at 3 month low

Dubai's bourse gives back early-session gains and trades at a three-month low with muted activity as investors are cautious amid a dampened global environment. Dubai's index eases 0.1 percent to 1,524 points, trimming year-to-date gains to 12.8 percent. Contractor Arabtec weighs with a 1 percent decline. Dubai Investments falls 3.9 percent. Emaar Properties is the main support, rising 1.4 percent. Telecoms operator du advances 1.3 percent. It reported an estimate-beating 62 percent rise in net profit. In the capital, Abu Dhabi National Energy Co jumps 4.1 percent. It said on Thursday its first-quarter net profit more than tripled, helped by one-time asset sale. Abu Dhabi's index ticks up 0.1 percent to 2,485 points. In Qatar, the measure slips 0.8 percent to 8,534 points, its lowest level since Jan. 31. Heavyweight Qatar Telecom falls 10 percent after a 40 percent capital increase. The company issued two additional shares for every five shares held. "The index broke a technical support yesterday at 8,608.64, and we're seeing a ripple effect today as well," says a Doha-based trader who asked not to be identified. Barwa Real Estate falls 1.1 percent. Selling pressure continues on financial stocks. Qatar National Bank sheds 0.2 percent, Commercial Bank of Qatar slips 0.7 percent and Qatar Islamic Bank is down 0.5 percent. Elsewhere, Kuwait's benchmark falls 0.5 percent to 6,417 points, down for a third session from Monday's one-year high. Asian shares struggled on Thursday, as a weak Chinese trade data stoked fears of a growth slowdown and further undermined risk appetite already reduced by worries about the health of Spanish banks and deepening political chaos in Greece.