UAE and Qatar stocks bounced back early Thursday from a subdued performance, by riding on heavyweight stocks, while dividend handouts pushed other markets higher.
Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange edged 0.2 per cent to 5,645 points led by blue-chips, with Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Aldar Properties and telco Etisalat all advancing. Ras Al Khaimah Cement shot up 5.6 per cent to Dh0.76 and was heading towards its biggest single-day gain in the last five months. The stock has advanced for a third day out of five after posting lower full-year losses than a year before.
Bank of Sharjah pointed higher by 1.9 per cent after earlier this week reporting full-year profits of Dh176 million versus Dh 488 million in losses suffered in 2019.
Dubai Financial Market traded 0.2 per cent higher to 2,598 points with most gains coming from property stocks as Emaar Properties and its subsidiary Emaar Development rose 0.8 and 0.7 per cent, respectively. The firms had dropped in previous sessions after their subdued latest earnings.
Ends losing streak
Dubai Islamic Bank bounced back 0.9 per cent to trade at Dh4.8 ending 10 days of losses or no-gains. The lender lost big in the last two days after posting lower full-year and quarterly profits on the backdrop of higher provisions.
Qatar Exchange moved higher by 0.4 per cent to 10,385 points, staging a comeback from a more than 1 per cent drop on Wednesday that represented its sharpest fall this year and pushing index into the red. Qatar National Bank notched up 0.7 per cent to QR16.6 and Qatar Commercial Bank joined the rally with 0.9 per cent to trade at QR4.3.
Dividend push
Oman's 30-company index gained 0.2 per cent to 3,565 points with Al Jazeira Services jumping 5.4 per cent after its board of directors recommended 25 baizas per share sd dividends, up from 14 baizas.
Bahrain shares edged up 0.1 per cent. National Bank of Bahrain eked out 2.1 per cent after the board proposing 20 fils per share cash dividends and 10 per cent of paid-up capital in bonus shares despite full-year profits dropping to BD53.3 million from BD 74.2 million for 2019.
