Dubai: UAE stock indices ended in positive teritorry aided by positive sentiment due to to higher oil prices and robust investor response for the Saudi bond issue.
The Dubai Financial Market General Index closed 0.43 per cent higher at 3,318.39.
Emaar Properties closed 1.93 per cent higher at Dh6.85. Shuaa Capital closed more than 3 per cent higher at Dh1.12. Gulf Finance House, which was the most active stock in trade, closed steady at Dh1.18.
Among other stocks, DFM shares closed less than a per cent higher at Dh1.15. Dubai Islamic Bank closed 0.57 per cent higher at Dh5.26. Out of the total of 33 stocks, shares of 15 each fell and rose. The rest remained steady.
Positive
“We should continue to see a positive environment,” said Saleem Khokhar, head of equities at National Bank of Abu Dhabi’s asset management group.
“Saudi health care, insurance and real estate are doing well. Real estate names should do well in Dubai, we should see some recovery in the banking sector in Abu Dhabi,” he added.
The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index closed 0.63 per cent higher at 4,292.50.
First Gulf Bank closed 0.35 per cent higher at Dh11.2 after posting 31 per cent jump in net profit for the three months to September. Aldar Properties closed 0.01 per cent higher or almost flat at Dh2.64.
Etisalat fell 0.75 per cent to be at Dh19.1 after posting a near flat earnings for the third quarter.
Out of a total of 31 firms traded on the bourse, shares of 14 firms rose, while other 7 fell. The rest remained steady.
Elsewhere in the Gulf, the Qatar exchange index closed 0.0 per cent higher at 10,371.17. The Muscat Securities MSM 30 index closed 0.30 per cent lower at 5,497.05. The Kuwait stock exchange index closed 0.11 per cent lower at 5,397.85.
Winning run:
Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul index resumed its winning streak on Thursday, leading the gains in the region.
The Tadawul index was 0.87 per cent higher at 5,936.30, after gaining more than 5 per cent in the past six sessions.
“The recent stability in oil price is helping investor sentiment,” Khokhar said.
“The overall global environment is benign, but the reception to the Saudi bond issuance was very positive from investors across the globe is giving that positivity to investors,” Khokhar said.
Oil-dependent Saudi Arabia, which has witnessed a fall in revenues due to falling prices of the commodity, received a robust investor investor response for its $17.5 billion bonds, that was over subscribed nearly four times.
The banking and financial services index gained more than 1 per cent, while petrochemical stocks gained more than half a per cent in trade.
Alinma Bank was 0.68 per cent higher at 13.30 Saudi Riyals, while Saudi Basic Industries Corp. was 0.99 per cent higher at 85.50 riyals. Shares of 109 firms rose, while other 54 firms fell.
