UAE drops on global concerns, Oman resilient

UAE's retail investor-driven stocks slumped as sentiment was hit after a broad sell-off in global markets.Dubai's benchmark fell 1 percent to 1,453 points, its largest one-day drop in 12 days.Dubai Financial Market , the only bourse stock in the region, led losses by volumes, down 1.8 percent. Bellwether Emaar Properties dropped 1.8 percent, while construction stocks also took a hit. Drake & Scull sheds 0.9 percent and Arabtec declined 2.2 percent. Meanwhile, Dana Gas leads fell in Abu Dhabi, down 3.6 percent, after reports the energy firm picked banks to arrange its planned listing on the London Stocks Exchange. The benchmark eased 0.2 percent to 2,579 points, a near two-week low of August 9, when regional markets took a beating and dropped to multi-month lows. Qatar's index recovered some of the losses after opening lower amid a regional downtrend, with investors favouring names with domestic-driven revenues. The benchmark was lower 0.7 percent to 8,130 points, having fallen to a low of 8,069 points. "We're still suffering from macro fears that are driving investor sentiment," said Haissam Arabi, chief executive and fund manager at Gulfmena Investments. "There is still a lot of uncertainty- this time mostly about (US and Europe) going back into recession, that's taking centre stage over Europe's debt."The benchmark dropped to a five-month low a week-earlier amid a global slump in markets following a US credit rating downgrade. Banks, with domestically-driven revenues are more attractive in the current turmoil, Arabi added.Lender Masraf Al Rayan declined 1 percent, and heavy weight Industries Qatar dropped 2.5 percent. Losers outnumbered gainers 19 to two.Elsewhere, Oman's index gave back early session gains and eased 0.07 percent to 5,523 points. From / Arabian Business News