Dubai's bourse closed above 3,000 points for the first time in five years on Thursday as investors repositioned into stocks ahead of earnings and dividend season, while Egypt's bourse rallied on prospects of fresh investment inflows. Dubai index climbed 0.9 percent to 3,013 points, its highest close since October 2008. "The positive moves come after a couple days of consolidation, which created opportunities for people to position into select stocks going into year-end," said Marwan Shurrab, fund manager and head of trading at Vision Investments. Shares in Union Properties rose 1.9 percent, extending year-to-date gains to 165.8 percent. Emaar Properties climbed 1.6 percent and contractor Arabtec added 1.2 percent. "People are now playing on strong fourth-quarter earnings and dividends. Turnover should go above 1 billion dirhams ($272.26 million) to make investors more comfortable with the uptrend," Shurrab added. Market turnover was 672 million dirhams for the session. Neighbouring Abu Dhabi's measure climbed 0.2 percent to its highest close since the Aug.25 five-year peak. Dana Gas was one of the biggest index movers, rising 3.2 percent, after Egypt promised to pay $1.5 billion of the $6 billion it says it owes foreign oil companies including the Sharjah firm. Some investors also think the firm may start importing natural gas from Iran after a contract delay of over 10 years. Iran's foreign minister visited UAE on Wednesday, hoping to improve trade ties after Tehran's deal with world powers that may see sanctions relief if it cuts back on its nuclear development activities. Elsewhere, Saudi Arabia's benchmark climbed 0.2 percent, Qatar's index rose 0.5 percent and Kuwait's measure added 0.4 percent. THURSDAY'S HIGHLIGHTS DUBAI * The index rose 0.9 percent to 3,013 points. ABU DHABI * The index climbed 0.2 percent to 3,940 points. SAUDI ARABIA * The index gained 0.2 percent to 8,244 points. QATAR * The index gained 0.5 percent to 10,389 points. KUWAIT * The index advanced 0.4 percent to 7,765 points. OMAN * The index slipped 0.2 percent to 6,769 points. BAHRAIN * The index ticked up 0.06 percent to 1,198 points. Source: Reuters
