UAE indices end in green on earnings

26/12/2017 06:06 AST

Gulf stock markets were mostly quiet in moderate trading volumes on Monday. Abu Dhabi’s index edged up 0.3 per cent as Dana jumped 13.2 per cent; it was the market’s most heavily traded stock by far.

Dubai’s index edged up 0.2 per cent as Union Properties, the most heavily traded stock, climbed 3.3 per cent after saying it planned to list its ServeU facilities management unit in Dubai in the second half of 2018.

Bahrain’s Al Salam Bank, the second most heavily traded stock in Dubai, jumped 7.7 per cent to 1.12 dirhams after a 6.1 per cent gain on Sunday, when a disclosure on the Bahrain exchange showed a key person involved with the bank had bought 250,000 shares.

In Bahrain, the bank’s shares surged 8.5 per cent to 0.115 dinar, equivalent to 1.12 dirhams.

Trading volumes

Khaleeji Commercial Bank, another Bahraini bank which has soared in big trading volumes since it listed in Dubai last Tuesday, plunged 9.9 per cent to 1.36 dirhams. Its shares in Bahrain sank 5.8 per cent to 0.113 dinar, equivalent to 1.10 dirhams.

Saudi Arabia’s index slipped 0.5 per cent as Najran Cement dropped 2.2 per cent after its board decided to halt its third production line, which has a daily capacity of 6,500 tonnes, and restart its second line, with a capacity of 3,000 tonnes, because of high inventories of clinker.

Saudi cement shares have risen sharply in recent weeks partly because of hopes for a pick-up in the cement industry as the government eases fiscal austerity. But Najran’s decision suggested improvement in the industry might not come quickly.

Jadwa REIT jumped 4.3 per cent after the real estate investment trust said it had bought two properties worth 148 million riyals ($39.5 million) in Mecca which would initially yield between 6.4 and 6.5 per cent annually.

But utility Saudi Electric dropped 4.9 per cent. It has been weak since mid-December, when it said it would pay the government any profits from the increase in electricity tariffs due to take effect in January.

The Gulf Today