Dubai bourse leads GCC peers in September gains

Year-to-date gains for the DFM is also the highest in the Gulf

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The Dubai Financial Market. The benchmark index has gained 10.9 per cent till September this year, the highest among the GCC stock markets. — File photo

Published: Tue 1 Oct 2024, 9:05 PM

Last updated: Tue 1 Oct 2024, 9:07 PM

Cementing its status as a key enabler of the UAE’s non-oil economy, the DFM General Index recorded a 4.1 per cent increase last month, its fourth consecutive monthly gain and the largest monthly gain among the GCC markets in September, to close at 4,503.48 points, a report showed on Tuesday.

According to a report by Kamco Invest, the monthly performance pushed the year-to-date gains in 2024 for the DFM index to the highest in the GCC at 10.9 per cent. In terms of sectoral indices, seven out of the eight sectors recorded growth during the month. The overall index growth was broad-based although growth in the top weighted indices such as the financial index (+3.6 per cent) and the real estate (+3.1 per cent) drove the overall index performance during September. The communications services index jumped 11.1 per cent, the biggest increase for the month, followed by the consumer staples and the utilities indices which recorded gains of 5.7 per cent and 5.2 per cent respectively. The financial index’s growth was mainly attributed to gains in large-weight banks and financial companies including Commercial Bank of Dubai (+5.9) and Mashreq Bank (+5.5 per cent).

In terms of monthly performance, International Financial Advisors topped with a gain of 35.0 per cent followed by Dubai Taxi and Salik with gains of 17.8 per cent and 12.2 per cent, respectively. Dubai Taxi reported in September that it had been awarded 300 new plates at the latest RTA auction. This award cements Dubai Taxi Company as the largest taxi service provider in the city.

Moreover, the award also raises the company’s taxi fleet to nearly 6,000 vehicles. On the decliner’s side, Shuaa Capital topped with a decline of 17.7 per cent followed by Ekttitab Holding Company and Agility with declines of 11.7 per cent and 8.3 per cent, respectively.

In terms of trading activity, total monthly volume dropped by 11.9 per cent to reach 3.6 billion shares vs. 4.1 billion shares during the previous month, while monthly value traded declined by 8.6 per cent to Dh7.3 billion vs. Dh8.0 billion during August-2024. Shares of Emaar Properties topped the value traded chart with total trades worth Dh1.7 billion followed by Emirates NBD and Dubai Islamic Bank at Dh778 million and Dh529.8 million, respectively. In terms of monthly volume, Drake & Scull International topped with 1.0 billion traded shares followed by GFH and Union Properties at 306.8 million and 293.7 million shares, respectively.

In Abu Dhabi, the FTSE ADX index recorded a 1.5 per cent increase in September bouncing back from its 0.6 per cent dip in August-2024 to close the month at 9,425.49 points. The monthly increase reduced the indices’ yeaer-to-date decline to -1.6 per cent. The performance of the ten sector indices on the exchange was marginally skewed towards the gainers during the month as six indices recorded gains.

The utilities index posted the largest gains among the indices during September with a jump of 26.5 per cent to close the month at 10,051.72 points. The gain was due to the 26.5 per cent jump in shares of the sole constituent Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) during the month. The consumer staples index reported the second-largest monthly gain during September with a 12.1 per cent uptick to close the month at 16,097.61 points mainly due to the 12.2 per cent gain in shares of Agthia Group. The Real Estate Index was next with a gain of 3.4 per cent after shares of Al Khaleej Investment Company jumped 86 per cent during the month.

In terms of monthly stock performance, Al Khaleej Investment Co. topped the monthly gainers chart for the second consecutive month with a monthly gain of 86.0 per cent, followed by Apex Investment and Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. with gains of 76.4 per cent and 26.5 per cent, respectively. In a disclosure to the Abu Dhabi Securities Market, Al Khaleej Investment Company reported that there are no operations which may have caused the rapid growth of the company’s shares but the jump in the company’s share price is a result of basic supply and demand in the market.

On the decliners’ side, Fujairah Building Industries fell the most, declining 27.0 per cent during September followed by Abu Dhabi National Company for Building Materials and Umm Al Qaiwain General Investment Company with share price declines of 22.6 per cent and 13.3 per cent, respectively.

Trading activity increased during September after witnessing a decline in August. Total volume of shares traded rose 17.7 per cent in September to reach 6.9 billion shares as compared to 5.9 billion shares during the previous month. On the other hand, the total value of shares traded recorded a jump of 33.5 per cent to reach Dh30.2 billion during September as compared to Dh22.7 billion in August-2024. Apex Investment topped the list of the most active stocks table during the month with 1.3 billion traded shares followed by Multiply Group and ADNOC Gas which traded 609.0 million shares and 453.5 million shares, respectively. In terms of value traded, IHC topped the table with Dh7.9 billion worth of shares changing hands during the month followed by Apex Investment and Alpha Dhabi Holding Company at Dh4.8 billion and Dh1.5 billion, respectively.