Business | Markets
UAE stocks recover after news of Dana's gas deal
With oil prices continuing to decline, global equities staged a rally that aided in the recovery of the UAE market yesterday. But it was also the news of Dana Gas starting to supply gas to Kurdistan from early August that pushed the market up.
- By Gaurav Ghose, Financial Features Editor
- Published: 00:02 July 31, 2008
Dubai: With oil prices continuing to decline, global equities staged a rally that aided in the recovery of the UAE market yesterday. But it was also the news of Dana Gas starting to supply gas to Kurdistan from early August that pushed the market up.
"This is something that the market has been waiting for about three years since Dana listed, the whole reason for its creation and listing," said Julian Bruce, director of institutional equity sales at EFG-Hermes.
"So, we will see increased volumes, activity and better performance from stocks like that when they have very specific news."
Dana Gas volumes jumped to 59.8 million shares from 9.6 million shares a day before. With a total of Dh112.35 million, the value of shares traded was the second highest on the day. Its share price was up 3.87 per cent to Dh1.88.
Stocks in the Asia Pacific region and Europe advanced, with oil on Nymex hovering around $122.
The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange Index rose 0.92 per cent to 4,976.15. Real estate, energy and telecom sectors made the largest gains.
The Dubai Financial Market General Index closed 1.07 per cent higher to 5,405.44. Emaar gained 1.45 per cent to close at Dh10.50. At Dh102.31 million, it was the highest traded stock in terms of turnover.
The markets of the region have been following a similar pattern lately, said Bruce. "There is very little activity that is driven by fundamentals... We will continue to essentially track sideways with a little less volatility, some marginal improvement on odd days followed by some profit taking thereafter."
He feels that such a lacklustre scenario is likely to continue in the month ahead.
"There is obviously no real aggressive buying enthusiasm in the market at the moment, neither from foreign investors nor local ones. Unfortunately, it looks as if it's going to be a pretty slow and an uninteresting August."
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