Dubai
Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul index gave up all the intra-day gains to close almost flat on Thursday, while Qatar index ended marginally higher even as the rest of the markets in the Gulf remained closed for a local holiday.
The Tadawul index was up 0.09 per cent at 7,326.32, reversing from an intra-day high of 7,346.51. Traded value stood at 2 billion Saudi riyals. About 89 stocks closed in the positive territory, while the other 77 stocks closed in the red.
The energy, services indices were up 0.6 per cent, while rest of the indices remained almost steady, between -0.11 to 012 per cent. Alinma closed 0.12 per cent lower at 17.88 Saudi Riyals, while Saudi Basic Industries closed at 101 riyals, up 0.24 per cent. Al Rajhi Bank closed 0.61 per cent higher at 68 riyals. Dar Alarkan Real Estate Development closed 0.16 per cent higher at 6.36 riyals. Overall the index has given positive returns so far, compared to 2.3 per cent gains in August, which made it the best performing market in the region.
The Qatar exchange index closed 0.15 per cent higher at 8,360.77.
Monitoring
After a dull August as far as traded value was concerned, fund managers are expecting action in the specific stocks in September.
“We are closely monitoring valuations of a number of fundamentally strong companies in the region and will use our large cash position to buy into some of these at an opportune time this quarter. We continue to believe that our fundamentals-based stock picking will add substantial value for investors over the medium term,” said Invest AD in a note. Invest AD did not give more details on which stocks they were eyeing.
On Wednesday, the UAE indices witnessed a weak close. The Dubai Financial Market General index closed 0.62 per cent lower at 3,632.54, while the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange index closed 0.2 per cent lower at 4,455.09.
