When Emaar started buying back its shares on October 27 it did not provide the fillip that embattled Dubai equity investors had hoped for. Emaar’s 9.3 per cent decline that day pulled down the overall market by 5.8 per cent.

Losing two-thirds of its value this year spurred the real estate company to announce that it would use cash reserves to buy back up to 10 per cent of its shares. Yet only 200,000 shares, a small fraction, have been bought so far, disappointing investors.