What you need to know as UAE markets open on June 4

Here are some things you need to know as markets open today in the United Arab Emirates.

1) Middle East fund managers have turned bearish towards equities in the UAE – a first in more than two years – because of low trading volumes and financial pressure on some companies, a monthly poll by Reuters showed.

2) Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) has started implementing Blockchain technology, enabling shareholders to oversee and participate with further transparency while using advanced e-voting techniques.

3) Jebel Ali Free Zone, a company of Nasdaq Dubai-listed DP World, registered 122 new companies from 33 countries during the first three months of 2017. Nearly 55 percent of new companies were from the Middle East region, followed by 22 percent from Asia-Pacific, 16 percent from Europe, 4 percent from Africa and 3 percent from North America.

4) The UAE jumped five positions to rank among the world's top 10 most competitive economies for the first time in the annual rankings of the IMD World Competitiveness report 2017.

5) Oil prices ended last week with declines, with Brent crude slipping below the $50-mark. Brent fell 1.3 percent to close at $49.95/bbl and WTI crude lost 1.5 percent to settle at $47.66/bbl.

Write to Nadeshda Zareen at nadeshda.zareen@argaamplus.com