UAE stocks up 8% in two months

Last week trading in the UAE stock markets - and sadly there are still three - was up by 2.7 per cent to $69.2 million, still a paltry sum for an economy growing as rapidly as the UAE.

Emaar Properties topped the list of the five most actively traded shares, followed by Etisalat, Dubai Islamic Bank and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank.

There should be no surprise at the trade in Emaar shares given the latter's announcement about a $1 billion hotel venture with Armani, and the success of the recent IPO for its Amlak Finance division.

UAE mutual funds remain an excellent place to park spare funds. The Emirates Flagship Fund is up 13% in the past six months, including dividends, and seems well set to advance further at least in the first half of 2003.

The Emirates Securities and Commodities Authority is dong some excellent work behind the scenes, and the Over-The-Counter market is pretty much dead, leaving the two trading floors in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and the sooner that they are united the better all round.

Meantime, the Dubai Regional Exchange is to be launched next year, promising a fourth UAE stock market. The DRE will cross-list shares of other quoted companies, mainly from the Arab countries, and should do much to improve local interest in share ownership.

Perhaps the arrival of yet another bourse is, ironically, exactly what the UAE needs to put its house in order, and achieve the greater share trading volumes and liquidity that should support higher valuations.