Dubai: Dubai index on Thursday staged a smart recovery in last hour of trade even as volumes jumped by more than a half.
The Dubai Financial Markets General Index closed 0.96 per cent higher at 3,480.43. Traded value jumped by 52 per cent to be at Dh400 million.
“Some of this rally has to do with window dressing at the end of the first quarter,” said Sanyalaksna Manibhandu, director Research, National Bank of Abu Dhabi Securities. The market had been trending down since the first quarter. The index fell 1.6 per cent in the quarter to March.
Gulf Finance House closed 5.49 per cent higher at Dh2.50. HITS Telecom closed more than 1 per cent higher at Dh0.700. Emaar Properties closed 1.11 per cent higher at Dh7.30. Dubai Islamic Bank closed 1.82 per cent higher at Dh5.60. Out of a total of 35 stocks traded on the exchange, shares of 21 firms rose, while other 9 fell. The rest remained steady.
The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index closed 0.17 per cent higher at 4,443.53.
Etisalat closed 1.4 per cent higher at Dh18.05. Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank closed 1.56 per cent higher at Dh3.90. Eshraq Properties closed 4.90 per cent higher at Dh1.07.
Driver
“The driver would still be crude in the next quarter, and people would see at the Opec meeting on May 25 to see if they actually go ahead and decide to continue cutting output beyond June,” said Manibhandu.
Crude prices have underperformed which has meant that Mena equities has also come down. Crude prices fell more than 10 per cent in the past few weeks after recovery in the last two months of 2016.
Among other factors that could impact markets, Manibhandu said that banking sector liquidity has improved. “Eibor, Saibor have come off and is positive to banks, economy and stock markets,” Manibhandu said.
Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul index was 0.76 per cent higher at 7,001.63.
Because of falling crude prices, Saudi stocks were an underperformer in the first quarter.
“Saudi Arabia is generating a newsflow of their own. We might see people coming back and buying in the second quarter,” Manibhandu said.
“Banks in Saudi may be moving up compared to Qatari banks.”
Elsewhere in the region, Qatar exchange index closed 0.25 per cent lower at 10,390.60. The Muscat Securities MSM 30 index closed 0.05 per cent lower at 5,550.60. The Kuwait stock exchange index closed 0.26 per cent higher at 7,029.43.
