Emirati Stocks Gain as Non-oil Private Sector Growth Softens

Stock trading in the United Arab Emirates closed the week on a positive note as investors shrugged off the latest figures from the region's non-oil private sector. At the close of Friday trading, the FTSE ADX General Index and the DFM General Index gained 0.929% and 1.144%, respectively. The S&P Global UAE PMI slipped to 50.8 in June from 52.6 in May, marking the slowest private sector activity expansion in five years. The weak growth reflected delayed consumer spending, weak tourism activity, and elevated input costs due to the disruptions caused by the Middle East conflict. "Looking ahead, recent moves towards an easing of geopolitical tensions in the region should help firms recover demand and normalise supply chains - indeed, the greater movement of shipping along the Strait of Hormuz in June led to shorter delivery times. That said, client caution has persisted so far, and businesses have sufficiently moved to cut staff capacity, suggesting that a rebound in the non-oil sector may turn out to be gradual," S&P Global Market Intelligence principal economist David Owen commented. Closer to home, Dubai Chambers conducted a roundtable in Shanghai to outline investment.