Dubai index up nearly 2 per cent; Saudi’s Tadawul index slips

21/04/2015 00:22 AST

Dubai index jumped nearly a per cent on Monday led by property majors helped by continued optimism over first quarter results. The Abu Dhabi index also rose.

The Dubai Financial Market General Index ended 1.83 per cent higher at the day’s high of 4,095.04. Volumes worth more than Dh1.28 billion were traded on the exchange.

“The rally could attributed to the first quarter results, which were pretty good despite the fall in oil prices in the second half of the year. We saw some good results from Dubai Islamic Bank and that has given investors confidence,” said Sebastien Henin, head of asset management at The National Investor.

DAMAC Properties ended 11.82 per cent higher to end at Dh3.31, while its competitor Emaar Properties also ended 1.12 per cent higher at Dh8.16.

Arabtec ended 3.45 per cent higher at Dh3.

“We should expect the market to hold the recent gains as the momentum has shifted and there is an also an interesting signal in terms of volumes,” Henin said.

Out of a total of 32 companies traded on the exchange, shares of 27 companies rose, while shares of 5 companies fell.

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index ended 0.74 per cent higher at 4,657.24, and has been an underperformer compared to Dubai index.

“The risk was more attached to Dubai which was more exposed and driven by public spending, compared to Abu Dhabi. In the bull market Dubai would continue to outperform Abu Dhabi,” Henin said.

Union National Bank, which is 50 per cent owned by the Abu Dhabi government, rose more than 3.5 per cent to end at Dh6.16 after posting a 20 per cent rise in first-quarter net profit, beating analysts’ forecasts.

Out of a total of 29 companies traded on the exchange, shares of 16 companies rose, while shares of 6 companies fell.



Saudi slips:

Saudi’s Tadawul index slipped after gaining nearly 4 per cent in the previous session.

Alinma was 0,65 per cent to be at 24.40 Saudi Riyals, while Saudi Basic Industries was slightly lower at 95.5 Saudi Riyals.

The Saudi capital markets regulator announced on Thursday that Qualified Foreign Institutions will be able to invest in the kingdom directly starting from the June 15. Final rules will be published on May 4 and implemented on June 1. The opening up of Saudi markets is expected to boost foreign capital.

“We believe that initial flows should be more limited, with only 5 per cent allocation over the first year, which should initially result in $15 billion of inflows,” Arqaam Capital said in a note to its clients.

Elsewhere in the Gulf, Qatar Exchange Index ended 0.19 per cent higher at 11,915.76, while Muscat Securities MSM 30 index ended 0.56 per cent higher at 6,325.25.

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