Hisham Khairy, the head of institutional trading at Menacorp, says the momentum is there for UAE markets to head higher, with a lot of investors gearing up for the initial public offering of Emaar’s malls unit.
What is the asset class and geography you are focused on?
Menacorp’s main focus would be trading regional equity markets for our institutional clients, with a special focus on the UAE.
What is the outlook for the month ahead?
Some markets are offering really good opportunities. Let’s focus on UAE, where fundamentals are looking strong, and companies are reporting better than expected numbers. The country has a healthy economy, where some companies are even paying their debt early such as Nakheel [or Dubai World]. The country’s equity market was the best performer last year, and is again this year, year-to-date.
Real estate prices have risen sharply since Dubai’s Expo win, and now have settled, but are due for a correction, which could generate more inflows into equities and additional inflows from neighbouring countries because of the political unrest. The markets had a strong correction sparked by Arabtec’s dilemma, and have since been on the rise. IPOs are being announced: Marka was the first, then Dubai Malls, with more to come towards the end of the year. A lot of investors have been on the sidelines due to the summer and Ramadan, and are now looking to come back to the markets. All these factors point to a market heading higher for the medium to long term.
What are the main risks, either upside or downside, to the outlook?
Momentum is there for UAE markets to continue heading higher. The main downside risk would be external: either geopolitical risk, or a global event that will spill over into the Arabian Gulf. Global markets are printing lifetime highs with no real, fundamental story to back their performance up, while growth and inflation numbers give reasons for pessimism.
What is the best investment at the moment?
In the UAE, I would say MSCI names, with a special focus on Emaar. The stock will definitely benefit from an oversubscription in the Dubai Mall IPO, and a lot of investors will be willing to put money into the Emaar stock instead of subscribing, due to weak allocations expected. The minor correction we had in the last few sessions was a great buying opportunity, and we expect the stock to continue outperforming the market for the time being.
What was the best investment you were ever involved in?
Buying Aldar back in 2007 when it opened for foreign ownership was probably my best investment. Then, the stock was trading at Dh3.82 and after the announcement it had a very strong rally up to Dh7.50 in two months, which resulted in almost a 100 per cent profit.
What was the worst?
Arabtec’s momentum was pretty strong when it moved from around Dh3.45 to Dh7.74. Then the stock started to correct. My worst piece of advice was to buy it at around Dh4.50. This turned out to be really bad and the stock continued its freefall to Dh2.35, losing almost 50 per cent in a matter of two weeks. They say never catch a falling knife, but sometimes you get lucky.
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Constant Variable (CVT)
Power: 141bhp
Torque: 250Nm
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On sale: Now
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Race card:
6.30pm: Maiden; Dh165,000; 2,000m
7.05pm: Handicap; Dh165,000; 2,200m
7.40pm: Conditions; Dh240,000; 1,600m
8.15pm: Handicap; Dh190,000; 2,000m
8.50pm: The Garhoud Sprint Listed; Dh265,000; 1,200m
9.25pm: Handicap; Dh170,000; 1,600m
10pm: Handicap; Dh190,000; 1,400m
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
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Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
European arms
Known EU weapons transfers to Ukraine since the war began: Germany 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger surface-to-air missiles. Luxembourg 100 NLAW anti-tank weapons, jeeps and 15 military tents as well as air transport capacity. Belgium 2,000 machine guns, 3,800 tons of fuel. Netherlands 200 Stinger missiles. Poland 100 mortars, 8 drones, Javelin anti-tank weapons, Grot assault rifles, munitions. Slovakia 12,000 pieces of artillery ammunition, 10 million litres of fuel, 2.4 million litres of aviation fuel and 2 Bozena de-mining systems. Estonia Javelin anti-tank weapons. Latvia Stinger surface to air missiles. Czech Republic machine guns, assault rifles, other light weapons and ammunition worth $8.57 million.
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 178hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 280Nm at 1,350-4,200rpm
Transmission: seven-speed dual-clutch auto
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Specs
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Range: Up to 610km
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
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- 400m Olympic running track
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Glossary of a stock market revolution
Reddit
A discussion website
Redditor
The users of Reddit
Robinhood
A smartphone app for buying and selling shares
Short seller
Selling a stock today in the belief its price will fall in the future
Short squeeze
Traders forced to buy a stock they are shorting
Naked short
An illegal practice
MATCH INFO
Qalandars 112-4 (10 ovs)
Banton 53 no
Northern Warriors 46 all out (9 ovs)
Kumara 3-10, Garton 3-10, Jordan 2-2, Prasanna 2-7
Qalandars win by six wickets
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
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Profile Periscope Media
Founder: Smeetha Ghosh, one co-founder (anonymous)
Launch year: 2020
Employees: four – plans to add another 10 by July 2021
Financing stage: $250,000 bootstrap funding, approaching VC firms this year
Investors: Co-founders
