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UAE Shares Rebound on
Hopes of Global Growth

Higher oil prices which rose by 1 per cent to $70.85 a barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange, and Brent crude oil prices also rising by 1 per cent to $73.64 , also spurred investors to buy back shares. The benchmark index of the Dubai Financial Market ended 2.7 per cent higher at 1,924.01 after losing 4.1 per cent on Wednesday. The main index of the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange edged up by 1.6 per cent to 2,867.16, paced by property and energy stocks which gained more than 3 per cent.

Both indexes though were little changed from last week’s session, with the Dubai bourse posting a marginal 0.2 per cent gain, while Abu Dhabi inched up by 0.7 per cent.

“The strong global markets, plus the bond program of Dubai reaffirms the government’s support for companies in need of help in these challenging times,” said Ali Khan, managing director of Arqaam Capital.

Dubai on Wednesday said the $20-billion fund will extend loans to government and government-affiliated companies involved in strategic and development projects. “The liquidity injections will help the beneficiaries shore up their financial positions and stir more economic activity,” said Khan. Dubai index heavyweight Emaar Properties went up by 5.8 per cent to Dh3.30 after plunging by 6.8 per cent on Wednesday. Construction giant Arabtec Holding added
 5.5 per cent at Dh2.89.

Union Properties rose by 3.6 per cent to Dh1.15 ahead of its second quarter results. The company disclosed after market hours that it incurred a net loss of Dh227.95 million in the second quarter, compared to a year ago’s profit of Dh317.7 million.

Banks in Dubai also rebounded, led by Emirates NBD. The country’s biggest bank by assets gained 2.2 per cent at Dh3.74. The Dubai Islamic Bank added 2.4 per cent at Dh2.61.

The Dubai Financial Market PJSC, Dubai’s stock market operator, climbed by 4.7 per cent to Dh1.80.

“There was a lot of pent-up selling on Wednesday, with that already flushed out, we can expect trading next week to be range-bound, while liquidity will be tight as we are nearing the start of the month-long Ramadan,” said Khan of Arqaam Capital.

In Abu Dhabi, the biggest gainers included the Abu Dhabi National Energy Company or TAQA which edged up by 5.6 per cent to Dh1.70. The state-controlled oil producer said on Thursday its second quarter profit plunged from a year earlier by 71 per cent to Dh136 million as income from oil and gas operations fell, while operating 
costs inreased.

Natural gas producer Dana Gas PJSC rose by 1.7 per cent to Dh1.19.

Among property stocks, Aldar Properties gained the most, edging up by 4.9 per cent to Dh4.53.

Of the bigger banks in the emirate, the Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank went up by 2.7 per cent to Dh1.91, while the National Bank of Abu Dhabi gained 1.5 per cent at Dh13.60.

Among the smaller banks, the biggest gainer was United Arab Bank which jumped by 8.2 per cent to Dh6.10.

rocel@khaleejtimes.com