UAE bourses up despite weak oil, rate-hike bets

Stock markets in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) closed higher on Friday as investors appeared to shrug off a fall in oil prices amid concerns over weak global economic growth and more aggressive interest rates hikes, reports Reuters.
US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Thursday the central bank would move interest rates at a "careful pace" as policymakers edge towards a stopping point for their historic round of monetary policy tightening.
Most Gulf currencies are pegged to the dollar and any monetary policy change in the United States is usually mimicked by the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Meanwhile, crude oil prices, a major driver for Gulf economies, fell for a second day on Friday and were heading for a weekly decline, as Brent crude slipped 91 cents, or 1.2 per cent, to $73.23 a barrel by 1110 GMT.
In Dubai, the benchmark index gained 0.4 per cent on the back of a 1.9 per cent rise in Dubai Electricity and Water Authority and a 1.1 per cent lift in Emirates NBD Bank, Dubai's largest lender.
Blue-chip developer Emaar Properties was up 0.8 per cent.
The Dubai index posted a marginal weekly gain of 0.1 per cent, as it extended gains to a third weekly session.
Abu Dhabi's index rose 0.3 per cent, its sixth positive session in a row, bolstered by a more than 1 per cent hike in the country's largest lender First Abu Dhabi Bank and a 3.1 per cent jump in Alpha Dhabi Holding.
The index posted its second weekly gain of 1.2 per cent.