Abu Dhabi stocks rise

11/08/2014 07:48 AST

Abu Dhabi stocks rose the most in more than a week, led by First Gulf Bank, as investors speculated earnings at the emirate's second-largest lender will keep improving in the second half. Dubai's main gauge advanced.

The ADX General Index added 0.4 per cent, the most since July 31, to 4,943.20 at the close in the Emirate.

FGB, which accounts for more than 25 per cent of the gauge, gained as much as 2.5 per cent before closing 0.6 per cent higher. Dana Gas climbed 1.5 per cent after it said shareholder Crescent Petroleum won an arbitration ruling against National Iranian Oil. Dubai's DFM General Index advanced 0.1 per cent to 4,739.95.

"A decent set of second-quarter numbers from FGB, driven by a strong performance across all business segments, means the bank remains one of the preferred picks among investors in this sector," Nayal Khan, head of institutional sales and trading at Naeem Holding brokerage in Dubai, said by e-mail on Sunday. "The bank is expected to continue repeating its performance in the second half of the year."

Earnings among United Arab Emirates banks are being buoyed by the nation's economic growth, with expansion forecast to top 4.1 percent this year, according to the median estimate of 18 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. FGB said July 22 its second- quarter profit climbed 16 percent from a year earlier to Dh1.35 billion ($368 million), beating the mean estimate of five analysts.

The bank, controlled by the ruling family of Abu Dhabi, rose to Dh18.10 on Sunday.

Times of Oman