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The UAE equity markets closed lower on Wednesday after trading resumed following 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) had applied a temporary -5% lower price limit on securities to protect investors from extreme volatility.
Abu Dhabi’s FTFADGI index closed 1.93% lower. The declines were across the board. Aldar Properties, First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), Abu Dhabi Aviation, and Abu Dhabi National Hotels were among the stocks that hit the -5% limit, according to LSEG data.
Dubai’s main index, DFMGI, closed 4.7%, with banking and airline stocks leading the declines. Emirates NBD Bank and Mashreq closed 5% lower. Air Arabia, the market’s sole airline stock, also declined nearly 5% to AED 5.14. Salik and Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) hit their lower circuits; both stocks are closely tied to population and mobility trends.
“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.
Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index (TASI), closed 1.20% higher, led by Alujain Corp and Saudi Research and Media Group, both nearly 10% higher. Saudi Aramco ended 2.32% lower after the kingdom reported an attempted attack on the oil giant’s key Ras Tanura refinery on Wednesday afternoon.
Qatar’s QE Index also closed 0.75% higher with most bank stocks ending in the green.
(Writing by Brinda Darasha; editing by Seban Scaria)
