Dubai stocks dive to 27-month low on real estate woes

[Holac]

Dubai stocks dive to 27-month low on real estate woes

Dubai Financial Market Index trades down 1.83% to below the 3,000-point psychological barrier

 

Dubai stocks hit a 27-month low on Thursday on the back of sharp falls in the real estate market and a drop in liquidity levels.

The Dubai Financial Market Index ended the day's trading down 1.83 percent on 2,947.99 points breaching the 3,000-point psychological barrier.

The Dubai bourse, the most exposed to the global markets in the Gulf region, dropped 3.1 percent by the close of the Muslim trading week.

The market has shed 12.5 percent since the start of the year as cash injections dropped sharply, with the main fall coming from the vital real estate sector.

"Dubai market has underperformed its (Gulf Cooperation Council) GCC markets losing over 12 percent (YTD) dragged by the sell-off in Real Estate sector," MR Raghu, head of research at Kuwait Financial Center (Markaz) said.

Most of the seven Gulf bourses have made good gains in 2018 due to a partial recovery in oil prices, with Saudi stocks rising 12 percent.

"Fundamentally, the real estate prices have been falling and the market has been sluggish," Raghu told AFP.

Dubai real estate witnessed a 46 percent fall in off-plan sales by value in the first quarter, and a 24 percent decline in previously owned resales, he said.

The real estate sector is one of the main pillars for Dubai's highly diversified economy, which is not dependent on oil.

The index of the real estate sector on Dubai bourse has shed around 18 percent since the start of the year with property giant and market leader Emaar dropping 22 percent.

Damac Properties, a leading real estate developer, was down 26 percent and troubled Drake and Scull International shed 50 percent since January 1.

A massive fall in liquidity levels and reports that international investors, an important component in the market, have moved to Saudi Arabia, are other causes for the downturn, analysts said.

According to local economic reports, liquidity levels dropped a massive 35 percent in April alone

[Duufaan]

Many somalis lost a lot of money for the emirate real state last time. It is not gone get better as internet changed the need of big offices and warehouses. Turkey, Egypt and Tunisia are back as big tourism destinations.  The new investment of container ports in Africa and Asia made third countries transit less important.  UAE is expensive and overrated. They will be  dumped and replaced by another country.

[maakhiri1]

now I understand where their desperation and carelessness coming from.00

[galbeedi]

In my opinion, the Dubai decline is directly related to the changing landscape of the middle east. 

There are two major changes that will seal not only the decline of Dubai,  but also hasten it's collapse as major business center.

the introduction of new players in the region.First,  

Around 2009, a couple of Somalis representing major Dubai businessmen had come to our town here in Canada to sell future apartment condominiums. They weren't selling ready made apartments,. They will take you and show you an empty sand dune lot and tell you that, " In that empty lot, your apartment would be in the third floor". Many local Somalis lost money when everything collapsed due to the crush of the Dubai markets.

Also, those same years, a friend bought a condo in Cairo spending about $35,000 dollars. Those who were luck enough had sold few years later during the reign of Hosni MUbarak. After the overthrow of Mursi, the Egyptian pound collapsed and the exchange rate had tanked. If he sells today, he might get half of what he paid due to the exchange rate,

So, due to the instability brought by dictator Sisi, Egypt is out of the question for investment destination or even a tourist destination.

Now, the introduction of Turkey as a save place to invest had great effect to the region.The people of the gulf region had invested Billions of dollars in Turkey for the last few years. Prices are reasonable and the country is both attractive and welcoming for investment. 

I myself was checking  some of heir apartments and the prices are good. few weeks ago I was showing my wife about a city in central Anatolia called Konya. It is the hometown of the great thinker and poet Jalaludin Rumi. It is a conservative town that could fit well with the modern Muslim dynamics of our time. It is also a strong hold of the AK party of Erdogan , and as honorary member of that party (just joking), It will fit me well.  

The second issue that will bring down Dubai is the spiritual nature of the Muslim world. The internet made the world small, and the Muslim world are well aware of the crimes and  treaturries of the UAE.  They would be willing to invest the money somewhere else.. They trying hard to cover their crimes which is one of the main reasons they want to shut down Al-jazeera network, but the genie is out of the box.

All we need is few Sheikhs in the region to issue a Fatwa making illegal to invest in Dubai. The rest will follow itself.

I warn Somalis not to waste their money in that small island. They have a large Arab Shia and Iranian population that could rise up any time.

If I were financial analyst, I will put Dubai stock as a junk..

Waa digniin.

 

 

 

[Duufaan]

Anger Erupts On Yemen's Socotra As UAE Deploys Over 100 Troops

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Details

 

Published on Friday, 04 May 2018 09:38  

Joomla Social

 

Angry protests have erupted on the Yemeni island of Socotra after the United Arab Emirates deployed four military aircraft and more than 100 troops to the famed UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Residents told Al Jazeera that the four Emirati aircraft arrived illegally on the island on Wednesday in an attempt to intimidate officials from the internationally recognised government who were making a rare visit to the archipelago.

Hundreds of Yemenis had come out to welcome Ahmed bin Daghr, Yemeni prime minister, and 10 of his ministers and to denounced the UAE's presence on the island.

Videos posted on social media showed protesters chanting slogans in support of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and a unified Yemen.

Residents told Al Jazeera that the crowds were angry after reports emerged that Emirati forces had expelled Yemeni soldiers assigned to protect the main island's airport.

Located due east of the Horn of Africa in the Arabian Sea, the island of 60,000 people, which is known for its unique flora and fauna, has been administered by Yemen for much of the last two centuries.

But since the UAE entered Yemen's war in March 2015 as part of a Saudi-led coalition seeking to remove Houthi rebels, Abu Dhabi has exploited the security vacuum and tried to gain a foothold in the strategically placed island.

The UAE has confirmed carrying out military operations on Socotra, with local media reporting that the UAE had leased Socotra and the nearby Abd al-Kuri island for 99 years.

The flag of the UAE and images of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan adorn official buildings and busy thoroughfares.

According to Human Rights Watch, Abu Dhabi has financed and trained a network of militias that only answer to it, set up prisons, and created a security establishment parallel to Hadi's government.

Earlier this year, Yemen's tourism ministry warned that the UAE had tried to convince islanders "to vote on a referendum of self-determination", calling it a "dangerous step."

Andreas Krieg, an academic at King's College London, said the latest developments in Socotra were part of a much larger strategy to consolidate power in southern Yemen.

"The UAE see themselves, or want to see themselves in the future, as the link between the east and the west.

"It's very important for them to control trade links which mostly go through the suez canal and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait between Yemen and the Horn of Africa.

"What they've done is found an island that is very strategically located, acts as a quasi-aircraft carrier in the middle of the Indian ocean and where they can control traffic while giving favourable access to countries that are related to them."

-Al Jazeera

[Duufaan]

Simply, they do know what they are doing. What they are doing, will be costly. for them both politically and economically in the long run. 

[Holac]

Somalia needs to take political stand on Suqadara Island.