Dubai’s Largest Bank Predicts Positive Outlook for UAE Stock Markets

Dubai’s Largest Bank Predicts Positive Outlook for UAE Stock Markets

The outlook for the UAE stock markets is positive and Dubai's largest bank Emirates NBD is bullish about the UAE and emerging market equities for the remainder of the year. Emirates NBD said in its latest annual report that a number of factors now predicate upside for the UAE. "Regional relations have improved, oil prices are firmer, tourism is picking up with a planned vaccine and testing rollout. The business landscape has also been progressively liberalised in the UAE and in Dubai: foreign investors can own 100 per cent of onshore companies in most sectors, there are new visa options, and relations are normalising with Israel and Qatar," it said in the report. Anita Gupta, head of equity strategy at Emirates NBD Research, said the UAE is a definite preference within the GCC with banking, telecom and logistics stocks are looking good in the year ahead. "What we are seeing is that oil is rallying positively. We are seeing low trading volumes but that should be mitigated by the increased weight in emerging market indices as more companies open up their foreign ownership limits," Gupta said during an online media briefing on Sunday. Emirates NBD said the UAE markets are