Poor trading sees ADX close in negative territory

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The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) escaped with slight losses, despite fallers outnumbering gainers by more than three to one.

The ADX fell 0.55 per cent to 3,357 points as trading slumped to its lowest level for more than six months.

But a strong rally by National Bank of Abu Dhabi, the second largest company on the ADX after etisalat, helped support the index. NBAD surged 6.6 per cent, which means it has added 19 per cent in just four sessions.

The other blue-chips did not fare so well. Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank dropped four per cent, while Aldar Properties and Sorouh Real Estate lost 2.58 and 3.21 per cent respectively. Etisalat, Taqa and First Gulf Bank all fell by less than one per cent.

"Hopefully, the UAE markets can show they're slowly decoupling from international exchanges," said Wadah Al Taha, a financial analyst.

"Sentiment is negative, so local investors follow declines on global markets, but then ignore them when they recover. The falling volatility is a sign that the correlation is weakening. This should create a flat market for the time being, before rebounding in the near future when third quarter results will at last be taken into consideration."

This should see the UAE markets advance in November, but Taha is cautious and instead only stated that this month should see a better performance than the previous two, when both the ADX and DFM suffered double digit declines.

Losers outnumbered gainers 26:8. Sharjah Islamic Bank was one of the few to buck the negative trend to climb 2.5 per cent, while Rak Cement, up 1.2 per cent, was another. Turnover fell to Dh154 million, down 23 per cent from Sunday, although volumes were up more than 14 per cent, which indicates that the few active investors were primarily targeting penny stocks.

Aldar was the top trader in cash terms after Dh41 million of shares changed hands, followed by Rak properties with Dh27m. The latter was the largest volume shifter, with 26 million shares traded, followed by Dana Gas with 11.8 million.

ARKAN sole exception
Like Dubai, most Abu Dhabi stocks have been hammered this year, with only one active stock escaping the carnage beside new listings.

Arkan is this sole exception, having surged 46 per cent this
year, but the capital's blue-chips have toiled.

Etisalat has outperformed the index this year, having fallen 17 per cent to the ADX's 26 per cent, while National Bank of Abu Dhabi and First Gulf Bank have lost 36 and 39 per cent respectively.

Aldar Properties and Sorouh Real Estate have both declined by more than half and Rak Properties is top chump after plunging 57 per cent this year.

By Matt Smith

© Emirates Business 24/7 2008