U.A.E. Shares Fell Most Since March 2006, Led by Emaar, Aldar

By Arif Sharif and Ayesha Daya

Oct. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Persian Gulf shares fell, with the Dubai index falling the most in more than 2 years, on concerns a slowing U.S. economy will hurt growth in the Middle East.

Emaar Properties PJSC, the region's biggest publicly traded real-estate developer, led today's losers after the markets opened following the three-day Eid al-Fitr holiday. Aldar Properties, the largest developer in Abu Dhabi, fell 9.2 percent to 7.24 dirhams, and Deyaar Development PJSC fell after reporting a 56 percent rise in third-quarter profit.

``The global cues are playing a role, the bad numbers in the U.S., the lack of confidence among investors in the capital markets and whether the U.S. bail-out will be sufficient,'' P. Krishna Murthy, who heads the financial services division of the Al Rostamani Group, said in an interview from Dubai.

The Dubai Financial Market General Index retreated 6.9 percent, its biggest drop since March 14, 2006, to 3844.27. The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index lost 4.7 percent.

Emaar fell 12.3 percent to 6.8 dirhams after it said it plans to build a 27 billion riyal ($7.2 billion) real-estate project in Saudi Arabia with the Al-Shoala Group of Establishment. Deyaar fell 5.6 percent to 1.52 dirhams after saying third-quarter profit rose to 311.9 million dirhams.

``There are a lot of rumors out there that there's going to be some consolidation in the real-estate market,'' Robert Mckinnon, managing director of equity research at Al Mal Capital PSC, said in a telephone interview from Dubai today. ``Investors want to see how things play out.''

The Kuwait Stock Exchange Index fell 3.6 percent, Oman's Muscat Securities Market 30 Index lost 2.8 percent and the Bahrain All Share Index fell 0.4 percent. The Doha Securities Market 20 Index declined 7 percent.

To contact the reporter on this story: Arif Sharif in Dubai at asharif2@bloomberg.net