Gulf stocks poised for rally

30/08/2015 06:07 AST

Stock markets in Gulf countries, especially in the UAE, are expected to open in positive mood today in the wake of a more than six per cent increase in crude on Friday.

Last week, bourses across the world witnessed "Black Monday" due to the "great fall of China" and the whole week remained volatile in Asia and the rest of the world.

Oil prices shot higher by 6.8 per cent and the Shanghai stock market rose 4.8 per cent. These reasons are good enough for a positive start of the week for Gulf stocks, according to an equity analyst.

Saudi Arabia's stock exchange, the only market open on Saturday, surged by 2.98 per cent to 7,604.32 points.

Last week, the Abu Dhabi and Dubai bourses led the rally across Gulf countries on a rebound in global markets and oil price rise.

The Dubai Financial Market General Index surged by 4.03 per cent to 4,648.45 points last Thursday. The bourse managed to reduce its weekly loss to 61.39 points or 1.6 per cent despite a whole week of volatility on the last trading day.

The Abu Dhabi market also recorded a 3.03 per cent increase and finished the week at 4,461.09 points. The market's weekly loss declined to 51.39 points or 1.1 per cent.

At the DFM, Gulf Finance House emerged as the volume leader with 571.2 million shares changing hands but its stock price fell by 10.55 per cent on the last trading day. Amlak Finance ranked second with 329.6 million shares trading and its price increased by 7.5 per cent. Arabtec took third position with trading volume of 291.8 million shares and its value appreciated by 1.52 per cent. In Abu Dhabi, Dana Gas, Aldar Properties, Waha Capital and RAK Properties were top trading stocks last week.

Last week, the the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down by 12 points to 16,643.01 points. The Nasdaq composite nudged 0.3 per cent higher. European markets were mixed as London's FTSE 100 was up 0.9 per cent and Germany's DAX index dropped 0.2 per cent.

Asian markets closed mostly higher following after days of extreme market volatility and heavy sell-offs in the region. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index added 2.9 per cent.

On Friday US benchmark crude surged to $45.43 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

US crude gained nearly 17 per cent over two sessions, ending eight straight weeks of losses. It was also the second largest two-day rise for the market in 25 years, Reuters data showed.

Khaleej Times