Lack of catalysts keeping trade values low in UAE

24/08/2017 07:18 AST

The UAE’s equity markets remained in a relative lull on Wednesday with weak trading volumes and little movement in the main indices. The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) index inched up 0.38 per cent to reach 3,624.85, with just over Dh222 million traded in the market all day.

“The market seems to be moving sideways — more on the downside. Investors are still reluctant to put money in the market until they see a clear direction. Now that second-quarter results are out, the next catalysts would be valuations … and oil prices,” said Tariq Qaqish, managing director of asset management at MenaCorp.

He pointed that catalysts might also include the restructuring in some companies such as Drake & Scull International, and Arabtec.

As for oil prices, Brent crude prices dipped on Wednesday by around 0.2 per cent amid concerns about rising supply from Libya. Oil prices have been seesawing during daily trade lately, but have jumped nearly 6 per cent over the past month.

“Right now, long-term investors are absent from the stock markets because they don’t have a clear idea of what’s going to happen in terms of oil and whether we’ll continue to see a slowdown in government spending. You need to see market moves to bring back liquidity from speculators, which will then bring medium-term to long-term investors back to the market,” Qaqish said.

As for the outlook, he said that he expected valuations and new project announcements to drive the market going forward. Qaqish pointed the valuations within the banking sector were attractive, especially as banks also have good dividend yields.

In Dubai, most stocks ended the day in the red, though marginally so. Emaar Malls, and Arabtec each fell 0.4 per cent and 0.61 per cent respectively. GFH Financial Group, which was the most actively traded stock in terms of market value, fell 2.15 per cent, while Emaar gained 1.2 per cent.

Meanwhile, the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) general index inched up 0.3 per cent to reach 4,487.41, with just Dh63 million in total traded values. Blue chips such as Etisalat, First Abu Dhabi Bank, and Aldar Properties were the most actively traded stocks in Abu Dhabi.

Gulfnews