Abu Dhabi index leads regional losses on selling in banks

Dubai: The Abu Dhabi index fell more than 1.5 per cent weighed by selling in First Abu Dhabi Bank and Aldar Properties.

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange closed 1.65 per cent lower at 4,427.30.

First Abu Dhabi Bank closed 3.65 per cent lower at Dh10.55, while etisalat closed 1.71 per cent lower at Dh17.20. Union National Bank closed 1.87 per cent lower at Dh4.71.

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank closed 0.54 per cent lower at Dh7.30. Aldar Properties closed 1.34 per cent lower at Dh2.21. Eshraq Properties closed 0.94 per cent lower at Dh1.05.

Out of 24 stocks, shares of 12 firms rose, while other 6 fell. The Dubai Financial Market General Index closed 0.03 per cent lower at 3,339.37.

“The MSCI rebalancing is due today with Damac entering the index so expecting bigger international participation. Emaar is still lagging the market correction and trading around Dh7.20 support could be a good trade with a target at Dh7.45,” Ahmad Waheed

Vice President — Institutional Desk, Menacorp said before the market opening.

Damac closed 3.46 per cent higher at Dh2.99. About 86.97 million shares were traded in the name. Insurance stocks too saw buying. Aman closed at its upper circuit, ending at Dh0.846, up nearly 15 per cent. Takaful closed at Dh1.13, up more than 8 per cent. Islamic Arab Insurance closed more than 6 per cent higher.

Gulf

Elsewhere in the Gulf, Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul index closed 0.01 per cent higher at 6,871.24. The Qatar exchange index closed 1.61 per cent lower at 9,901.38. Ezdan fell another 9 per cent after the stock was removed from the index temporarily. Qatar National Bank closed almost flat. The Muscat MSM 30 index closed 0.36 per cent higher at 5,421.95. The Bahrain bourse index closed steady at 1,319.75.

In the wider Middle East, the Egyptian stock exchange or the EGX index closed 0.76 per cent higher at 13339.63.