Dubai: Smaller stocks like HITS Telecom, Dubai Insurance, and Al Salam Bank, propelled traded volumes to Dh1 billion on the Dubai index, even as the wider index remained steady.
The Dubai Financial Market General Index closed 0.09 per cent higher at 3,672.31. Traded volumes jumped to Dh1.03 billion from Dh600 million.
Dubai Insurance Co closed 14.83 per cent higher at Dh3.33. Al Salam Sudan closed more than 14 per cent to be at Dh2.05. Al Salam closed more than 11 per cent to be at Dh1.11.
“While the appetite for insurance companies remain high, there has been foreign interest in blue chip companies to capture the attractive dividend play in names such as Emaar, NBAD [National Bank of Abu Dhabi], Air Arabia,” Tariq Qaqish, Managing Director — Asset Management at Al Mal Capital said.
Emaar Properties closed at Dh7.53, down more than a per cent, while NBAD closed 1.94 per cent higher at Dh10.50. Air Arabia closed 0.71 per cent lower at Dh1.79.
Out of a total of 38 stocks traded on the exchange, shares 21 firms rose, while other 9 fell. The rest remained steady.
In Abu Dhabi, the securities exchange index closed 0.21 per cent higher at 4,663.14.
“Some of the speculative stocks like ASMAK are cooling off in Abu Dhabi today as the stock has gone up more than 200% in a very short period,” Qaqish said. Arkan Building Material closed 1.96 per cent lower at Dh1. Etisalat closed 0.80 per cent higher at Dh18.90. Abu Dhabi Ship Building closed 3.33 per cent higher at Dh3.10.
Strong appetite:
“We believe the sentiment and appetite is still strong towards equity markets globally,” said Qaqish. The Dubai index has fallen nearly 2 per cent in the past three sessions till Monday.
Even the results are expected to be good.
“Analysts expectations for 2016 earnings were pessimistic, we believe Q4 numbers will show solid earnings and will be better than expected compared to 2015,” Qaqish added.
Regional markets:
Elsewhere in the Gulf, the Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul index closed 0.73 per cent higher at 6,873.53 on the back of firm oil prices.
Saudi Basic Industries Corp. closed more than 1 per cent at 93.75 Saudi Riyals, while Dar Alarkan Real Estate Development Co. closed 1.74 per cent higher at 5.85 riyals. The Qatar exchange index closed 1.57 per cent higher at 10,927.83. The Muscat MSM 30 index closed 0.20 per cent higher at 5.667.58. The Kuwait Stock Exchange index closed 1.24 per cent higher at 6.301.12. The Bahrain Bourse all share index closed 0.74 per cent higher at 1,229.38. In the wider Middle East, EGC 30 index closed 1.39 per cent higher at 13,436.1.