Dubai: Last minute bulk deals in Arabtec, which contributed to 76 per cent of total trade, triggered a massive jump in volumes on Dubai index.
About 378 million Arabtec shares were traded in bulk deals in last few minutes of trade. Overall, a total of 551 million shares were traded on Sunday, its highest in more than 11 sessions. This compares with 266 million shares compared with Thursday. In value terms, shares worth Dh700 million were traded, compared to an average of Dh500 million last week. The stock was in upward momentum since Sunday morning, and closed 1.33 per cent higher at Dh1.33.
“There wasn’t much to talk about in Gulf stocks till the end when we saw bulk deals on Arabtec shares,” said Marwan Shurrab, fund manager and head of trading at Vision Investments & Holdings. According to Dubai Financial Market’s website, Tasameem Real Estate now holds 8.29 per cent stake in Arabtec.
Low volatility
“Apart from Arabtec, there was low volatility and it was like a typical Sunday trading day,” Shurrab said.
Drake and Scull also moved higher along with Arabtec, breaking away from weak trend in the market. Gulf Finance House also witnessed buying. Drake and Scull closed 0.8 per cent higher at Dh0.501, while Gulf Finance House closed 1.96 per cent higher at Dh1.04. Emaar Properties closed 0.70 per cent lower at Dh7.11.
Out of a total of 31 stocks traded on the exchange, shares of 17 firms fell, while another 9 firms rose. The rest remained steady.
In Abu Dhabi, Aldar witnessed buying activity among other stocks. Aldar Properties closed 0.37 per cent lower at Dh2.73. Dana Gas closed 3.45 per cent lower at Dh0.56. The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index closed 0.40 per cent lower at 4,497.21.
Elsewhere in the Gulf, Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul index closed 0.60 per cent lower at 5,913. Qatar exchange index 0.22 per cent higher at 10,435.17. Muscat Securities MSM 30 index closed 0.05 per cent higher at 5,768.84. Kuwait Stock Exchange index closed 0.08 per cent higher at 5,410.23.
Factbox: Tasameem Real Estate buys 8.29 per cent stake in Arabtec
Tasameem Real Estate has bought 8.29 per cent stake in Arabtec, data on the Dubai Financial Market’s website showed.
Tasameem has replaced Hasan Ismaik as second biggest Arabtec shareholder. Abu Dhabi-based Aabar Investments holds 36.11 per cent stake, DFM’s website showed. Former chief executive officer Hasan Ismaik earlier held 11.91 per cent stake. The company is owned by Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Afairs.
