Dubai shares plunge 6.7pc on Arabtec woes

DUBAI, June 24 (AFP): Share prices in Dubai plunged 6.7 per cent on Tuesday, the market's biggest loss in 10 months, on the back of troubles associated with leading construction company Arabtec.
Arabtec was down by the limit of 10 per cent for the third day running after admitting it had laid off staff following the resignation of its chief executive Hassan Ismaik last week.
The Dubai Financial Market Index ended the day at 4,009.1 points, its lowest level since March 14, but at one point during trading it was down 8.7 per cent at an eight-year low.
The developments at Arabtec forced a massive sell-off as most listed firms dropped and all sectors suffered losses.
Industrials lost 10 per cent, financial and investment and services 9.7 per cent each, telecoms 8.6 per cent and real estate shed 6.2 per cent.
The DFM Index plunged 7.0 per cent on August 27 last year on fears of possible US military intervention in the Syrian conflict.
Since early May, the Dubai stock exchange, the Gulf's fifth largest in terms of market value, has shed more than 20 per cent mostly on Arabtec concerns.
After sustaining huge losses at the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008 and the subsequent woes over Dubai's huge debt, the DFM has made an impressive comeback in the past few years.
Last year, it gained a mammoth 108 per cent after a 20-per cent rise in 2012 on the back of positive economic indicators for Dubai and the whole United Arab Emirates.