Abu Dhabi: The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) index fell 0.17 per cent on Tuesday to end at 4,811.51 as trade values grew slightly reaching Dh812.3 million in Dubai. Meanwhile, the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) general index slid 0.2 per cent to reach 4,987.37.
Trade values remained low in Abu Dhabi, however, with nearly Dh129.8 million traded in the capital.
Powerhouses in Dubai ended the day with minor losses, with Arabtec going down 2.1 per cent to reach a share price of Dh4.19. With Dh205.4 million worth of shares traded, the construction giant topped the market in terms of value traded, and accounted for 25 per cent of the total trade value on DFM.
Union Properties also fell 0.94 per cent, while Dubai Islamic Bank slid 0.51 per cent. However, Emaar gained 1.91 per cent, and Gulf Finance House inclined 1.9 per cent. Dubai Investment Co. remained flat.
In Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah Ceramic Co. topped the gainers’ list with a 7.36 per cent change, followed by Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries (Julphar) with 4.32 per cent, Methaq Takaful Insurance Co. with 2.65 per cent, and Abu Dhabi Ship Building Co. with 2.59 per cent.
Mousa Haddad, equity fund manager at the National Bank of Abu Dhabi’s asset management group, expected markets to remain at such levels during August. “We’re still in the summer season, and people are still on holiday. I think the market is going to be range-bounding between 4,560 and 5,000 levels, so I think markets will consolidate on this level before we see another move to the upside,” he said.
He added that the outlook for the medium and long term is positive, and advised investors to purchase stocks at this level in order to benefit from the gains that are expected to start in September. He expected an upward trend in the coming months, which will be driven by market blue chips.
Discussing trade values, Haddad said there was a lack of catalysts at the moment to boost more liquidity into the market.
“During this period, we’ve seen the market come down on low volumes, and that indicates that this downtrend is not something to be worried about. It means that this is a correction in an uptrend move,” he said.
Of the 31 stocks traded on DFM, 16 went down, nine went up, and six remained unchanged. Of the 30 stocks traded on ADX, 10 advanced, 13 declined, and seven remained flat.
