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The UAE equity markets fell on Wednesday as trading resumed after a two day halt imposed in the wake of Iran’s attacks on the Gulf nation since Saturday.
Both the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) have applied a temporary -5% lower price limit on securities.
Abu Dhabi’s FTFADGI index declined 2.85%, led by Aldar Properties, which dropped 5% to AED 10.26. First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) also fell to the limit, to AED 18.64, according to LSEG data.
Dubai’s main index, DFMGI, fell 4.8%, with banking and airline stocks leading the declines. Emirates NBD slipped 5% to AED 31.35, while Mashreq dropped to AED 230.85. Air Arabia, the market’s sole airline stock, also declined 5% to AED 5.14.
“The 5% cap offers some breathing space and partially curbs the initial panic among investors. However, if the conflict persists, we would expect stocks to correct in line with their regional peers,” said Chiro Ghosh, Group Head of Research at the Bahrain-based investment bank SICO.
UAE stocks had a very favorable start to the year, supported by strong foreign inflows, and there could be some sustained profit-taking, he added.
“We expect sectors such as real estate, transportation and tourism related companies to underperform the index, while for other stocks and sectors, we expect normalisation over the medium-term and see this as an opportunity, once the market stabilises.”
The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange instructed all listed companies to assess and disclose any financial or operational exposure related to recent events, emphasising the need for timely disclosure of material information that could affect investor decisions.
In early trade, Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) showed resilience, rising 0.73%, while Qatar’s QE Index edged up 0.14%.
(Reporting by Brinda Darasha; editing by Seban Scaria)
