Stocks in Dubai rose on Sunday as investors’ concerns about an escalation of the conflict in Yemen diminished.
Arabtec, the UAE’s biggest publicly traded construction company, and Dubai Financial Market, the city state’s stock exchange, led the gains.
Arabtec was up 3.6 per cent and the Dubai Financial Market 1.3 per cent.
The benchmark DFM General Index increased 0.9 per cent to 3,437.8 as 20 stocks rose and four fell. The index had fallen as much as 5.9 per cent on Thursday before paring its losses to 0.8 per cent at the end of trade that day.
Abu Dhabi’s main index fell by less than 0.1 per cent on Sunday to 4,370.30 while Saudi Arabia’s main equities measure rose as much as 2.3 per cent.
“In the UAE I think after Thursday morning’s knee-jerk reaction we did see a rebound towards the end,” said Sachin Mohindra, a portfolio manager at the Abu Dhabi-based asset manager Invest AD.
“Generally retail investors appear to be thinking that the reason for the fall, which was basically the Yemen issue, is pretty much a localised issue as of now and that it will be contained within Yemen. There could be some bargain hunting because Thursday was a good time to buy some of the blue chips, especially some of the dividend names in the UAE. In the UAE there are good names that one should keep accumulating on corrections.”
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman said on Saturday that a Saudi-led offensive against rebels in Yemen would continue until stability in the neighbouring country is restored.
* The National, with agencies
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Three ways to limit your social media use
Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.
1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.
2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information.
3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.