Today's Edition
A. SREENIVASA REDDY (ABU DHABI)
Abu Dhabi Securities Market (ADX) continued its positive streak on Wednesday with property developer Aldar continuing to rise for the fourth consecutive session after it reported 47% rise in profits.
The main index of the ADX — FADGI — rose 0.207% to close at 9,659.00 points. A total of 28,865 trades were recorded, involving 349 million shares with a combined value of Dh1.355 billion. Market cap of the ADX reached Dh3.006 trillion.
Top gainers included Gulf Medical Projects (+7.32%), Hayah Insurance (+4.32), Abu Dhabi National Hotels (+3.75%) and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (+3.20%), while notable losers were National Takaful (-9.91%), Lulu Retail (-9.64%), and Al Ain Insurance (-8.33%).
Aldar continued to be ahead of the International Holding Company (IHC) as the most traded stock in terms of value for the third consecutive day. Lulu Retail has not lost its losing streak and dropped by nearly 10% for second day reaching Dh1.50. The IHC continued to trade around Dh401 as it disclosed its shareholding structure in a stock market disclosure. Free float shares of the company constituted 38.66% of the total shares.
The main index of the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) — DFMGI — saw a fall of 0.592% on Wednesday to reach 5304.17. It was correction of sorts after the index saw 1.415% rise on Tuesday.
A total of 15,117 trades were executed, involving 394 million shares with a combined value of Dh1.2 billion. The prices of 17 companies rose, while 24 declined, and 11 remained unchanged.
Among the top gainers were Al Salam Sudan (+9.58%), National International Holding (+6.95%), Agility Warehousing (+6.20%) and Shuaa Capital (+3.45%). The most notable losers included Emirates Investment Bank (-10.00%), National Cement (-7.95%), and Dubai Islamic Insurance (-5.66%).
The DFM index was dragged down by 4% decline in Dubai Islamic Bank despite reporting a rise in annual profit.
The Dubai bourse snapped two sessions of gains, influenced by recent earnings releases, Joseph Dahrieh, managing principal at Tickmill, told Reuters. However, the Dubai bourse maintains the potential for further upside given its solid fundamentals and generally strong earnings releases this quarter, added Dahrieh.
Elsewhere in the Gulf, Saudi Arabia's benchmark index (TASI) fell 0.3%, hit by a 1.8% fall in Saudi Basic Industries Corp, according to Reuters daily stock report.
In Qatar, the index (QSI) was down 0.3%, with petrochemical firm Industries Qatar retreating 0.9%.
Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index added 0.3%.
