Dubai equities buck declining GCC trend

Dubai’s successful economic diversification programme was once again brought to the fore on Sunday, as data showed that the DFM General Index recorded its sixth consecutive monthly gain and the biggest monthly gain among GCC markets in November 2024.

According to data from Kamco Invest, the monthly performance pushed the year-to-date gains for the DFM index to the highest in the GCC at 19.4 per cent. The Dubai benchmark closed the month 5.6 per cent higher at 4,847.3 points.

In contrast, GCC equity markets declined for the second consecutive month led by a rout in emerging market indices across the globe, along with softer energy prices. The wider GCC decline reflected stronger than expected economic growth in the US coupled with higher than expected inflation figures for October 2024 led to speculations that interest rates in the US are expected to be remain elevated for a longer time in the near term. The MSCI GCC Index recorded a decline of 1.2 per cent during the month that came after three out of the seven benchmarks in the GCC falling last month.

In terms of sectoral indices, seven out of the eight sectors recorded growth during the month. The overall index surge was mainly supported during the month due to the robust growth of the materials and real estate indices, which recorded 33.9 per cent and 14.5 per cent gain during the month, respectively. The growth of the real estate index was mainly attributed to gains in large-weighted Emaar Development (22.3 per cent) and Deyaar Development (37.8 per cent) while shares of National Cement Company in the materials sector recorded 33.9 per cent jump during the similar month, a report, prepared by Junaid Ansari, Kamco’s head of investment strategy and research, Mohamed Ali Omar, associate and Vineetha K. Yeluri, analyst, showed.

In terms of monthly performance, National International Holding topped with a gain of 52.5 per cent followed by Deyaar Development and National Cement Company with gains of 37.8 per cent and 33.9 per cent, respectively. On the decliner’s side, Al Mazaya Holding Company topped the table with a decline of 18.2 per cent followed by National Industries Group and United Foods Company with declines of 15.1 per cent and 10.0 per cent, respectively. Despite the share price decline, National Industries Group subsidiary Scomi Oil Tools Middle East announced it has signed a contract with Kuwait Gulf Oil Company and Saudi Arabian Chevron Inc to provide drilling fluid products.

Trading activity declined in November after three consecutive monthly gains. Total volume of shares traded declined by 57.8 per cent in November to reach 6.3 billion shares as compared to 14.9 billion shares during the previous month. On the other hand, the total value of shares traded fell by 58.4 per cent to Dh25.3 billion during November as compared to Dh60.8 billion in October 2024. Eshraq Investments topped the list of the most active stocks table during the month with 622.2 million traded shares followed by Phoenix and Multiply Group which traded 490.2 million shares and 456.5 million shares, respectively. In terms of value traded, IHC topped the table with Dh4.9 billion worth of shares changing hands during the month followed by Alpha Dhabi Holdings Company and Adnoc Drilling at Dh3.2 billion and Dh2.1 billion, respectively.