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GCC equity markets witnessed gains for the 12th consecutive month supported by a broad -based rally across exchanges in the region.
The MSCI GCC index was up 3.1 percent during October 2021 supported by consistent gains since the start of the month that was partially offset by a 1.6 percent decline since last week.
The monthly gains pushed GCC’s year-to-date (YTD) 2021 returns to one of the highest globally at 36.1 percent.
Kuwait was the best performing market in the GCC during the month with a gain of 3.5 percent backed by gain in stocks in the Main Market, Kamco Invest said in its GCC markets monthly report.
Oman followed with a gain of 3.4 percent after three consecutive months of declines. In terms of year-to-date 2021 gains, Abu Dhabi further strengthened its position as one of the best performing markets globally with a gain of 55.9 percent followed by Saudi and Kuwait, also with solid gains of 34.7 percent and 28.2 percent, respectively.
According to the Kamco Invest report, the sector performance chart for the month showed mid-to-low single digit gains for large[1]cap sectors including Banks, Energy and Utilities. Gains for the Banking sector were mainly led by solid earnings announced by most banks in the region, while Energy stocks reflected the consistent gain in oil prices.
Boursa Kuwait
Boursa Kuwait was up for the eight consecutive month during October 2021 and was the best performing market in the GCC during the month with a gain of 3.5 percent for the All Share Index.
The three main indices on the exchange, i.e. the All Share Index, Premier Market and the Main Market index closed the month at the highest level since inception. The gains were mainly seen by mid-caps and small-cap stocks on the market, while strong quarterly earnings for Q3 2021, especially from Kuwaiti banks further added to the investor optimism during the month.
Trading activity witnessed recovery in October 2021 from the steep decline witnessed during September 2021.
Total volume of shares traded during the month was the highest since January 2017 and increased by 59.3 percent m-o-m to 9.3 billion shares as compared to 5.8 billion shares traded during September 2021.
Saudi Arabia (Tadawul)
Saudi Stock Exchange reported its tenth consecutive month of gains during October-2021 in line with most of the other GCC markets. The index closed at over 15-year high level of 11,939.6 points on 21 October backed by solid earnings season coupled with consistently high oil prices.
However, subsequent declines during the remainder of the month affected performance and the index closed at 11,704.1 points with a monthly gains to 1.8 percent. The YTD performance got a further boost with the monthly gains and stood at 34.7 percent at the end of the month, the second highest in the GCC and one of the best globally.
The monthly sector performance chart was skewed towards declines with 13 out of 21 sectoral indices in the red. However, gains in large-cap sectors like Banks, Utilities and Energy pushed the aggregate benchmark performance in the green zone.
Monthly volume traded was up 5.2 percent in October 2021 to reach 4.1 billion shares whereas monthly value traded gained 7 percent m-o-m to reach SAR 158.3 billion.
Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange
The performance of the Abu Dhabi Exchange registered another month of gains in October-2021 for the thirteenth consecutive month. The index closed at a new record high of 7,949.44 points on 24-October-2021 but receded towards the end of the month to close at 7,865.12 points with a monthly gain of 2.2 percent.
With consecutive positive performance since the start of the year, the ADX index showed one of the highest year-to-date-2021 returns globally at 55.9 percent.
Trading activity in the exchange witnessed a mixed performance during the month. Total volume of shares traded during the month reached 5.6 billion shares as compared to 4.9 billion shares traded during September-2021 witnessing a 12.4 percent rise. However, monthly value traded also fell 29.9 percent to AED 33.2 billion in October-2021 as compared to AED 46.3 billion in September-2021.
Dubai Financial Market
The DFM index rose marginally into positive territory witnessing an uptick of 0.7 percent in October-2021 after a 2 percent monthly decline in September-2021. The DFMGI benchmark closed the month at 2,846.21 points after six out of the nine sectors of the market recorded gains during the month.
In terms of year-to-date-2021 performance, the index showed returns of 14.9 percent at the end of October 2021, the fifth highest in the GCC. The sector performance chart showed three out of nine sectors closing in the red during the month.
Trading activity on the exchange increased during October-2021 as compared to previous month. Total volume of shares traded rose by 7.6 percent to reach 2.7 billion shares in October-2021 as compared to 2.5 billion shares during September-2021.
Total value traded on the exchange also increased by 1.6 percent to reach AED 3.63 billion in October-2021 as compared to AED 3.58 billion during the previous month.
Qatar Exchange
Qatar Stock Exchange recorded the third-best monthly performance in the GCC during October after witnessing gains for the fourth consecutive month. The QE 20 Index closed the month at 11,764.8 points registering a gain of 2.4 percent during October[1]2021, while the Qatar All Share index closed with a gain of 2.9 percent, indicating broad-based gains during the month.
Gains during the month pushed YTD 2021 returns for the QE 20 Index to 12.7 percent. On the other hand, higher gains in the Qatar All Share Index during September-2021 followed by continued gains during October-2021 resulted in a higher YTD 2021 gain of 16.5 percent for the broader index.
The sector performance chart for October-2021 was topped by the Transportation index with a gain of 4.1 percent followed by Banks & Financial Services and Industrials indices with gains of 3.9 percent and 3.0 percent, respectively.
Trading activity on the exchange witnessed strong gains during October 2021. Volume traded during the month increased to 4.4 Bn shares in October 2021 as compared to 3.7 billion shares in September 2021.
The aggregate value of shares changing hands during the month also increased by 27.7 percent to QAR 12 billion as compared to QAR 9.4 Bn during the previous month.
Bahrain Bourse
The performance of the Bahrain All Share index registered its seventh consecutive monthly gain during October 2021. The index increased by 2.2 percent during the month to close at 1,743.06 points. In terms of YTD 2021 performance, the index is up 17.0 percent for the first ten months of the year, the fourth highest in the GCC.
On the sectoral front, five out of the seven sectors on the Bahrain Bourse registered a monthly gain contributing to the overall gain in the main index. The Materials sector topped on the gainers side with a gain of 5.1 percent during October-2021 followed by the Financial and the Real Estate indices with gains of 2.3 percent and and 1.2 percent, respectively.
Trading activity on the exchange was mixed during October. Total volume of shares traded rose by 25.6 percent to reach 97 million shares in October 2021 as compared to 77.3 million shares during September 2021.
Muscat Securities Market
The Omani stock market recorded the second-best monthly returns in the GCC during October 2021 after recording three consecutive months of declines. The MSX index was up 3.4 percent during the month and closed at 4,075.0 points. The monthly trading performance highlighted the consistent gains in the index since the start of the month with only marginal declines on five trading sessions.
In terms of YTD performance, the MSX index was up 11.4 percent this year. In terms of sector performance, the Financial Sector gained 2.7 percent during the month, whereas the Industrial and Services indices reported declines of 1.2 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively, in October 2021.
Trading activity on the exchange fell marginally after seeing gains during the previous month. Total volume of shares traded during October 2021 was down 12.4 percent to reach 242.5 million shares as compared to 276.8 million shares during September 2021.
On the other hand, monthly value traded also witnessed a higher fall of 24.2 percent to reach OMR 38.6 million as compared to OMR 50.9 Mn during September 2021.
(Writing by Seban Scaria; editing by Daniel Luiz)
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© ZAWYA 2021
