Dubai: Traders are preferring to buy shares of banks in Abu Dhabi such as First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), Union National Bank (UNB) and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB), positively impacting the Abu Dhabi index.
The Dubai index fell.
FAB closed 0.13 per cent higher at Dh15.22. ADCB closed 1.27 per cent higher at Dh9.58. UNB closed 1.27 per cent higher at Dh5.59. The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange general index closed 0.17 per cent higher at 5,126.86.
“First Abu Dhabi Bank still attracting buyers in addition to Aldar which sold off an asset that generated lower returns than its overall portfolio making investors happy,” Essam Kassabieh, Senior Financial Analyst at Menacorp said. Aldar Properties closed 0.93 per cent lower at Dh1.91.
In other stocks, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company For Distribution ended 2.31 per cent higher at Dh2.21.
Dana Gas closed 1.43 per cent higher at Dh0.92.
Dana Gas ended 1.43 per cent higher at Dh0.92. Eshraq Properties closed 2.17 per cent lower at Dh0.45.
“Eshraq Investments has been given approval from its board to pursue cross listing in Saudi’s Tadawul which could bring in more attention to the stock on a regional level; however is not considered appealing for the local markets which could lose some trading volume following the listing,” he said.
The Dubai index continued to remain dull, due to sentiment in Emaar Properties.
The Dubai Financial Market general index closed 0.73 per cent lower at 2,615.17. Emaar Properties extended the fall for another session, closing 2.09 per cent lower at Dh4.68. Dubai Islamic Bank closed 0.80 per cent lower at Dh4.79. Damac Properties closed 0.75 per cent lower at Dh1.32.
“Damac Properties continued its descent with investors not looking optimistic over the potential dividend,” Kassabieh said.
In other shares, Union Properties ended less than one per cent lower at Dh0.380. Gulf Navigation ended 3.81 per cent higher at Dh0.790.
Shuaa Capital stabilised after gaining 30 per cent in the past two sessions. Shuaa Capital closed 0.12 per cent lower at Dh0.81.
Elsewhere in the Gulf, Saudi Tadawul index closed 0.14 per cent higher at 8,678.88. Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Co. ended flat at 14.14 Saudi riyals.
The Muscat MSM 30 index closed 1.9 per cent lower at 4,049.40. The Qatar exchange index closed 0.14 per cent lower at 9,935.47. The all share Kuwait index closed 0.37 per cent higher at 5,565.26. The Bahrain index closed 0.56 per cent lower at 1,408.04.