Dubai index ends up; Saudi index jumps 3 per cent as Greece eyed

Thursday, Jul 09, 2015

Dubai: The Dubai index edged higher on Thursday, recovering from the sub-4,000 levels, even as Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul index gained nearly 3 per cent on strong earnings.

The Dubai Financial Market General Index ended 0.77 per cent higher at 4,017.30, after slipping below 4,000 mark in the previous session.

“The DFM index broke the 4000 support on low volumes and that was nothing serious, I don’t think we will break the 3,900 we reached at the end of May and would be a buyer of the market around current levels,” said Hisham Khairy, Head of Institutional Trading at Menacorp.

Amlak Finance ended 0.77 per cent higher at Dh2.63, while Emaar Properties ended 2.13 per cent higher at Dh7.66.

Out of a total of 33 stocks traded on the exchange, shares of 27 firms rose, while shares of other five fell.

Low volumes

“Volumes are low across markets. The real pick-up depends on when the Greece overhang is lifted,” said Muhammad Shabbir, head of equity funds & portfolios at Rasmala Investment Bank.

Volumes on Dubai bourse fell to Dh400 million, from a peak of more than Dh2.5 billion last month.

Volumes have been low as most of the traders were on a holiday due to Ramadan.

In Abu Dhabi, the general index ended 0.33 per cent higher at 4,707.94.

Dana Gas ended 10.91 per cent higher at Dh0.61, and was the most active stock in trade. Waha Capital ended more than 2 per cent higher at Dh2.48.

Saudi Arabia ’s Tadawul All Share Index (Tasi) ended nearly 3 per cent higher helped by banking stocks. The index ended nearly 3 per cent higher at 9,200 levels.

“We are seeing significant improvement in markets and Saudi [Arabia] is up 3 per cent. People, who had been selling for the whole week, are covering their positions,” said Shabbir. “A jump in the Saudi index has been due to positive earnings,” he added.

National Commercial Bank ended 4.61 per cent higher at 66.50 Saudi riyals, while Al Rajhi ended 4.86 per cent higher at 63.25 riyals.

Saudi Basic Industries ended 9.85 per cent higher at 102.25 riyals.

“We are generally watching out for petrochemicals for any improvement on earnings side,” Shabbir added.

Elsewhere in the Gulf, Bahrain All Share Index ended 0.08 per cent lower at 1,334.54, while Qatar Exchange Index ended 0.80 per cent higher at 11,880.82. Muscat’s MSM 30 index ended 0.53 per cent higher at 6,436.75.

By Siddesh Suresh ?Mayenkar Staff Reporter