Dubai: There has been a revival in interest among traders to see Foreign Ownership Limit (FOL) hiked for other banks in Dubai after the one announced by First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB).
FAB announced clearances from the regulators to increase the FOL to 40 per cent from the earlier 25 per cent. The move caused a 5 per cent rally in share prices of FAB, which neared their highest level in 52 weeks.
“More than ADX, we now expect markets to keenly follow Dubai based banks raising their FOL such as Dubai Islamic Bank and Emirates NBD. We believe higher FOL relaxation by ENBD would lead to a much stronger rally, as its foreign ownership has already reached the limit of 5 per cent,” Chiro Ghosh, Vice-President, Financial Institutions at SICO Bank told Gulf News. Currently, DIB has a FOL of 25 per cent. On Sunday, Emirates NBD shares closed 1.69 per cent higher at Dh12.
“As for Emirates NBD, trading on the stock has gone quiet pending first quarter results which are expected to be in line with previous performances and the Denizbank acquisition; it is worth of noting that Emirates NBD’s Network International IPO has earned the bank a strong cash return in addition to a higher valuation as NI’s stock rallied on the LSE,” Issam Kassabieh, Senior Financial Analyst, Menacorp said.
DIB closed 0.20 per cent lower at Dh5.02. The Dubai Financial Market General index closed 0.09 per cent lower at 2,787.64. Gulf Finance House snapped its winning streak, closing flat at Dh1.05.
“Investors are still trading Gulf Finance House shares after the company had announced selling stakes in yet another investment which is expected to boost cash and perhaps positive impact dividend for 2019,” Kassabieh said.
In Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) and Union National Bank (UNB) continued their gaining streak. ADCB closed 1.54 per cent higher at Dh9.34.
UNB closed 2.45 per cent higher to be at Dh5.44. Other shares such as Dana Gas, Eshraq Properties, Shuaa witnessed aggressive buying, with Eshraq Properties ending at the highest level of the day.
“Dana Gas may see further bullish towards the higher targets of Dh1.15 in the near term,” Shiv Prakash, senior analyst with First Abu Dhabi Bank Securities said. FABS had a buy on Dana Gas at Dh0.84 in late February. Dana Gas closed 6.51 per cent higher at Dh1.03.
Saudi Tadawul index closed 0.36 per cent lower at 9,055.34. Saudi Basic Industries Corp. closed 0.48 per cent lower at 123.60 Saudi riyals.
