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Dubai Shares Drops Most in Week on Moody’s Real-Estate Report

2010-05-24

May 24 (Bloomberg) -- Dubai shares declined the most in almost a week, leading Gulf markets lower, as Moody’s Investors Service said the outlook for the region’s real-estate market is negative because of excess supply. Oman’s benchmark index rose. Emaar Properties PJSC, the developer of the world’s tallest skyscraper, dropped to the lowest level in two weeks and Aldar Properties PJSC fell to the lowest since March. National Central Cooling Co., the Abu-Dhabi based Refrigeration Company, also declined. The DFM General Index slumped 1.6 percent, the most since May 19, to 1,653.3 at 1:35 p.m. in Dubai. Abu Dhabi’s measure lost 0.7 percent and the Bloomberg GCC 200 Index of stocks in the Gulf fell 1 percent.“The report’s findings are nothing new, but they reaffirm any negative sentiment investors had about the real estate market,” said Saud Masud, a Dubai-based analyst at UBS AG. Persian Gulf real-estate markets will probably worsen in the coming months as a “vast” supply of properties becomes available and lending remains scarce, Moody’s analyst Martin Kohlhase said in a report today. The industry’s outlook was placed on negative for the next 12 months to 18 months and the ratings of all Gulf Cooperation Council-based companies affected by real estate were downgraded. Emaar declined 2.7 percent to 3.59 dirhams, the lowest intraday level since May 9. The Dubai Real Estate Index decreased 2.8 percent. Aldar lost 5 percent to 3.39 dirhams. National Central Cooling, known as Tabreed, retreated 4.7 percent to 42.9 fils. Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index fell for a fourth day, declining 0.7 percent and Qatar’s QE Index dropped 0.5 percent. The Kuwait Stock Exchange Index decreased 0.2 percent, Bahrain’s measure lost 0.5 percent, while Oman’s MSM30 Index advanced 0.4 percent.