UAE equities recover Dh15.5b of their value

Abu Dhabi: UAE stocks recovered Dh15.5 billion of their market value last week, thanks to the strong annual results posted so far for last year.

All the leading shares touched levels long forgotten, with a bullish performance for Emaar Properties, Dubai Investments (DIC), Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB), Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank(ADIB) and etisalat.

The value and volume of traded shares increased remarkably by 87.2 and 62 per cent respectively, despite the shorter four-day week, due to Sunday's public holiday, according to the weekly report of Amanah Capital.

In Dubai, Wednesday's profit bookings were quickly reversed yesterday with strong bids shifting the benchmark index higher by 3.68 per cent to 4,284.26 points. Meanwhile, the Abu Dhabi market shifted to profit booking by yesterday's session. Nevertheless, the general index gained 2.5 per cent during the week, and maintained its level above the 3,000 mark to close at 3,046.89.

Many analysts are expecting the uptrend to continue in both markets, as Emaar is expected to announce strong results soon, as well as etisalat, and the National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD).

The banking sector in general had the strongest positive impact, with the listed banks gaining Dh6.2 billion in market capitalisation during the week, representing 40 per cent of the total gains, with Emirates Bank International and NBAD accounting for about Dhs2.8 billion of these capital gains.

The real estate sector followed, adding Dh5.5 billion to the market value, equivalent to 35.2 per cent of the gains, with Emaar alone accounting for Dh4.9 billion in capitalisation, the share advanced by 6.45 per cent to close at Dh13.20. With Dubai's market capitalisation growing by Dh8.9 billion, Emaar was responsible of more than 55 per cent of these gains.