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Dubai: Investors in the Dubai Financial Market breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing minor gains on Thursday, but said there was a long way to go until their losses were recovered.
Traders in Dubai continued to fume and sulk over the state of the emirate's stock exchange but saw hope in the minor gains that were observed. While most investors did not recover their losses, they held their fingers crossed in that the green lights were the start of a recovery period.
"Sure, it's done better today, but I now have losses of about 70 per cent instead of 80. That's certainly not good, but it gives us hope," said one investor.
Adel Al Sa'adi, a 23-year-old Emirati government employee said that since the situation had improved, it could pave the way for newcomers to invest. "A lot of potential investors have been keeping a close eye on the market for a while, and some have decided that the time has come to enter the market," he said.
A UAE-born Palestinian investor said he had lost 70 per cent of his initial investment and none of it was recovered yesterday. "Luckily, I didn't solely rely on the stock market for my income," he said.
Raghuvanshi, a long-time Indian resident of Dubai, said his 70 per cent loss will force him to apply for a loan to pay his apartment mortgage.
Looking for a solution
"I'll have to apply for a loan to pay for anther loan," he said. "The fluctuation in the market is just not natural. It seems artificial. I'll wait to recover my losses and leave the market forever," Raghuvanshi said.
Faisal Al Beloushi, a 31-year-old Emirati investor, however, said he had a good day: "I sold my shares just before they started falling and have bought them again for a fraction of the price in the past few days, and have made significant gains," he said.
Disputing the claims of other investors who said the market was too volatile to be relied on, he said the current crisis was part of the global economic crisis and that it was inevitable for the UAE to be affected.
"Despite that, this is probably one of the most stable regions to invest in. We've seen 100-year-old banks in the US fail, but Gulf governments will never let that happen here. They will intervene," he said.
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