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Dubai equities gain the most in region in 2024

Benchmark index gains 27.1% for the year

Published: Sun 5 Jan 2025, 7:18 PM

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The Dubai Financial Market General Index closed 2024 at 5,158.7 points. — AFP file

The Dubai Financial Market General Index closed 2024 at 5,158.7 points. — AFP file

The success of Dubai’s economic diversification programme has once again come to the fore, as the city’s benchmark index surged 27.1 per cent during the past year, a report showed.

According to data from Kamco Invest, Dubai was the best performing market in the GCC for the second consecutive year, with the Dubai Financial Market General Index closing 2024 at 5,158.7 points. “This was the biggest gain in the index in the last three years and the fourth consecutive year of gain,” the report, authored by Junaid Ansari, Kamco’s head of investment strategy and research, Mohamed Ali Omar, associate and Vineetha K. Yeluri, analyst, said.

Eight out of the nine sectors in the exchange eight witnessed growth during 2024. Unsurprisingly, the real estate index witnessed the biggest increase during the year recording a 63.1 per cent growth to close the year at 11,948.82 points, followed by the communication and materials sectors, which registered 44.3 per cent and 45.0 per cent gains respectively. On the other hand, the consumer staples index registered a marginal yearly decline during 2024 falling by 0.9 per cent to close the year at 97.90 points.

“The strong gains in the index was underpinned by a steady IPO pipeline with the listing of a number of private companies during the year,” the report said.

In terms of yearly gainers, Takaful Emarat Holding topped the table with its stock price up by 247.8 per cent in 2024. National International Holding and Parkin Company followed, as their stock prices recorded gains of 233.3 per cent and 131.0 per cent, respectively. On the other hand, shares of Agility fell the most in 2024 at –76.9 per cent followed by Gulf Navigation and Al Mazaya Holding with declines of 27.4 per cent and 26.8 per cent, respectively.

DFM witnessed moderate growth as volume traded increased by 5.4 per cent y-o-y to reach 50.4 billion shares as compared to 47.8 billion in 2023. In terms of value traded, the total value of shares improved by 9.2 per cent y-o-y to reach Dh104.2 billion up from Dh95.4 billion indicating higher trades in large-cap stocks during the year as well as the contribution of newly-listed stocks in the exchange. Emaar Properties was the most actively traded stock on the exchange for the year as Dh24.4 billion worth of shares were traded on DFM. Emirates NBD and Dubai Islamic Bank followed with value traded of Dh12.0 billion and Dh9.0 billion, respectively. In terms of volume traded in the exchange during 2024, Drake & Scull International topped with a volume of 8.4 billion shares. Union Properties and Shuaa Capital followed at 6.6 billion and 3.2 billion shares, respectively.

In Abu Dhabi, the general index fell 1.7 per cent to close the year at 9,419.0 points.

“This was the second consecutive year of decline for the index after a decline of 6.2 per cent in 2023. Nevertheless, the total market cap of companies listed on the exchange increased marginally by 0.5 per cent to reach Dh2.92 trillion (USD 796 billion) mainly due to the listing of new companies on the exchange such as Lulu, Alef Education, NMDC Energy and ADNH Catering,” the report said.

Six out of the 10 sector indices declined during the year. The real estate index rose 35.5 per cent during 2024, the biggest growth among the indices, followed by the consumer staples (29.7 per cent) and energy (9.5 per cent). The healthcare index fell 35.6 per cent, the biggest decline among the indices, followed closely by the consumer discretionary index which recorded a 34.0 per cent fall in 2024.

Furthermore, large-cap indices like Telecom recorded a yearly decline of 18.2 per cent contributing to the overall decline in the market.

Abu Dhabi National Company for Building Materials topped the yearly gainers chart, registering 247.1 per cent increase in its share price, followed by Al Khaleej Investment and Apex Investment which witnessed gains of 124.6 per cent and 113.7 per cent, respectively. Phoenix Group recorded the biggest yearly decline of 46.0 per cent followed by Fujairah Cement Industries and Pure Health Holding Company with declines of 43.7 per cent and 42.1 per cent, respectively.

Trading activity on the exchange increased y-o-y in 2024, as volumes traded increased by 60.6 per cent to 79.8 billion shares as compared to 49.7 billion in 2023. Similarly, value traded improved by 10.8 per cent y-o-y to reach Dh314.9 billion during 2024 up from Dh284.3 billion in 2023. In terms of most actively traded stocks, International Holdings Company topped with value traded reaching Dh56.3 billion during 2024. Abu Dhabi National Holdings and Alpha Dhabi Holdings followed with Dh25.0 billion and Dh21.2 billion worth of shares traded, respectively. Abu Dhabi National Energy Company led the most active stocks list in terms of volumes traded in 2024 as 8.5 billion shares of the utilities company were traded. Eshraq Investments and Multiply Group followed with 8.1 billion and 6.3 billion shares traded during 2024, respectively.

In the wider GCC, equity markets once again witnessed one of the smallest equity market gains globally during 2024. The aggregate MSCI GCC index reported a gain of 0.7 per cent during the year following mixed performance at the country level. “The performance during the year was marked by several key events globally and especially in the Middle East region, that affected the performance of GCC markets. These included the war on Gaza followed by Lebanon as well as the sudden change in power in Syria. The attacks in the Red Sea also had a significant impact on sentiments towards the region,” the report said.



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