Fresh buying in NBAD spurs rally in Abu Dhabi index

Dubai

Fresh buying was seen in First Abu Dhabi Bank shares ahead of their first quarter results, triggering gains in Abu Dhabi index, which was the regional leader in trade.

First Abu Dhabi Bank, which is called as NBAD on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, closed 2.79 per cent higher at Dh11.05. The bank, which has a weight of nearly 3 per cent on the index, was the top gainer in trade. First Abu Dhabi Bank, which has gained 28 per cent since the start of the year, will announce their results later in the week.

Eshraq Properties closed 1.79 per cent higher at Dh1.14 after Mubadala said was considering forming a venture with loss-making real estate developer. Etisalat closed 0.56 per cent higher at Dh17.8.

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange general index closed 1.23 per cent higher at 4,544.57. Out of a total of 29 stocks traded on the exchange, shares of 13 firms rose, while other 8 fell. The rest remained steady.

Bearish on GFH

Gulf Finance House closed 1.35 per cent lower at Dh2.20, and was the most actively traded stock.

“GFH has already reversed uptrend and broken support. The stock could now target the Dh2.05 then Dh1.80. Bear in mind that it has the highest margin in the market, so things could get really ugly if it continues to fall,” said Hisham Khairy, Head of Institutional Trading at Menacorp.

Shiv Prakash, senior analyst with National Bank of Abu Dhabi Securities, feels that the trend has turned bearish in GFH and may target Dh2.02 in the short term.

Arabtec closed 3.21 per cent higher at Dh0.837.

“The recovery is seen in Arabtec, if the stock breaks over Dh0.84, Arabtec may gain further momentum and hit Dh0.869 and form a double bottom to target Dh0.884,” NBADS’ Prakash said in a note.

Among other stocks, Dubai Islamic Bank closed more than 1 per cent higher at Dh5.85. Union Properties fell 3 per cent lower at Dh0.947. Emaar Properties closed 0.28 per cent higher at Dh7.23. The Dubai Financial Market General Index closed 0.31 per cent higher at 3,463.84.

Out of a total of 34 stocks traded on the bourse, shares of 13 each rose and fell, the rest remained steady.

Elsewhere in the Gulf, Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul index was flat at 7,005.13. The Qatar exchange index closed 0.91 per cent lower at 10,336.36. The Muscat MSM 30 index closed at 5,544.46, down 0.11 per cent. The Bahrain all share index closed 0.13 per cent higher at 1,346.49.