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The GCC equity markets reported gains for the eighth consecutive month during June 2021, continuing a rally that began in November.
According to the GCC Markets Monthly Report by Kamco Invest, all except Qatar, reported low to mid-single digit gains. The Qatar market declined marginally.
As a result, the MSCI GCC total return index recorded the best first half performance since the index started tracking regional markets in 2005 with a return of 25 percent for the period. Abu Dhabi had the highest first half returns in the region, as well as globally, at 35.5 percent followed by Saudi Arabia with a gain of 26.4 percent.
Year-to-date all GCC markets are in the green with most indices reporting double digit gains.
UAE
The performance of the Abu Dhabi exchange remained upbeat during June, recording gains for the ninth consecutive month. The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) Index gained 4.2 percent during the month, the second biggest monthly gain in the GCC after Oman, to close at 6,835.43 points, a new record high for the benchmark.
Among sectors, Investment & Financial Services and Industrial indices notched double digit gains for June, whereas Consumer Staples and Banks were the only two sectors that reported declines.
For H1, the ADX Index was the best performing market in the GCC, as well as globally, with a gain of 35.5 percent. The Investment & Financial Services had the biggest returns of 160.7 percent during the period followed by Industrial and Consumer Staples indices with gains of 41.0 percent and 35.2 percent, respectively. Banking sector also showed healthy gains of 23.4 percent whereas the Insurance sector was the only gauge that reported a decline of 6.3 percent.
Trading volumes traded stood at 4.5 billion shares versus 5.1 billion last month. Value traded fell 11 percent to 31.1 billion dirhams.
Dubai Financial Market (DFM) General Index rose for the third consecutive month during June to close at 2,810.56 points, recording a gain of 0.5 percent. The index closed at a 22-month high level of 2,870.69 points on 27, June, but declined during the last three trading sessions. The monthly gains further strengthened the benchmark’s performance since the start of the year, reaching 12.8 percent, the fourth highest in the GCC.
Sector performance was mixed with the Telecom index seeing the highest monthly returns of 3.8 percent while on the decliners’ side, the Industrial index reported the biggest monthly fall of 4.2 percent.
Trading activity on the exchange declined compared to previous month. Total volume of shares traded declined by 20.4 percent to reach 2.9 billion shares in June as compared to 3.7 billion shares in the previous month. Total value traded on the exchange declined by 10.3 percent to reach 4.7 billion dirhams in June compared to 5.2 billion dirhams during the previous month.
Saudi Arabia
The Tadawul TASI index rally continued for the sixth consecutive month during June, led by positive investor sentiments that was also reflected in announcements of new IPOs and listings on the exchange.
The TASI index reported a gain of 4.1 percent during the month, third highest in the GCC, to close little short of the 11,000 points mark at 10,984.2 mark. The month saw the index reaching the pre-oil crisis levels of September 2014.
For the first half of 2021, the index reported gains of 26.4 percent, second highest in the GCC after Abu Dhabi.
In terms of sector performance, only two sectors, Food & Staples Retailing and Utilities, showed declines of 3.1 percent and 1.0 percent, respectively.
Trading activity gained during June, reaching multi-month highs. Monthly volume of shares traded jumped 57.2 percent month-on-month (m-o-m) to reach the highest since November 2020 at 8.6 billion shares.
Value of shares traded increased at a much bigger pace of 86.2 percent to reach 294.6 billion riyals, the highest monthly trading since June 2020.
Kuwait
Kuwaiti equity market was up for the fourth consecutive month during June with almost similar performance across market segments. After underperforming over the previous two months, the Premier Market index reported marginally better performance during the month with a return of 2.9 percent followed by the Main Market Index, which was up 2.6 percent. The Main 50 index, meanwhile, reported a gain of 2.4 percent that resulted in a 2.8 percent return for the All Share index.
In terms of H1-2021 performance, Kuwait recorded the third best performance in the GCC with the All Share index up by 15.2 percent.
Most sectors ended June in the green. The Technology index topped the chart with a gain of 31.7 percent followed by Insurance and Banking indices with gains of 11.0 percent and 4.2 percent, respectively.
Total volume of shares traded during the month declined by 9.2 percent to 8.3 billion shares as compared to 9.1 billion shares traded during May. Monthly value traded, on the other hand, increased marginally m-o-m by 3.2 percent to 1.42 billion dinars in June.
Qatar
The Qatar Stock Exchange reported declines for the second consecutive month during June, albeit marginally, and was the only market in the GCC that fell during the month.
The QE20 benchmark closed the month at 10,730.7 points witnessing a decline of 0.2 percent, in-line with the performance of the Qatar All Share Index that reported a similar monthly decline to close at 3,407.53 points.
The decline during June further affected the market’s performance during H1-2021 that reached 2.8 percent, the smallest in the GCC.
The sector performance chart for June showed gains for Telecoms and Industrial indices at 1.5 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively, and marginal gains of 0.3 percent for the Banks and Financial Services index. However, these gains were more than offset by declines mainly reported by Real Estate Index at 7.4 percent followed by Insurance and Consumer Goods & Services indices at –2.6 percent and –1.4 percent, respectively.
Trading activity on the exchange remained mixed but higher trades in large-cap stocks resulted in an increase in value traded. Total volume traded on the exchange declined by 6.1 percent to 3.5 billion shares in June as compared to 3.7 billion shares during May. Total value traded increased by 2.4 percent to 8.7 billion riyals as compared to 8.5 billion riyals during May.
Bahrain
The Bahrain Bourse continued to report gains for the third consecutive month during June. Bahrain All Share Index closed the month at 1,587.97 points after touching a 14-month high level on 29 June at 1,596.05 points, registering a gain of 4.0 percent, the biggest monthly gain in ten months.
The monthly gain further supported H1-2021 performance and lifted the benchmark deeper into the green with a H1-2021 gain of 6.6 percent
At a sector level, Commercial Banks gained the most at 6.8 percent followed by Insurance and Investment indices with gains of 2.8 percent and 2.4 percent. These gains were partially offset by declines reported by Hotels & Tourism and Services index by 6.6 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.
Trading activity on the exchange remained upbeat with a sharp m-o-m increase during June-2021. Monthly volume of shares traded reached the highest in 30 months at 178.7 million shares as compared to 51 million shares during May. Monthly value traded reached a three-month high level and almost doubled to 22.1 million dinars in June compared to 11.5 million dinar the previous month.
Oman
The Omani stock market gained for the fourth consecutive month during June; the best performing market in the GCC during the month. The MSM 30 Index rose by 5.5 percent during the month to close at 4,063.4 points. Gains during June pushed H1-2021 gains into double digits for the MSX 30 index at 11.1 percent.
In terms of sector performance, all three sectoral indices closed the month in the green with the Industry index reporting the biggest gains of 8.7 percent followed by Financial and Services indices with monthly gains of 8.1 percent and 6.1 percent, respectively.
Trading activity remained upbeat during the month reaching multi-year highs. Total volume of shares traded during the month reached the highest in 37 months at 667.3 million shares as compared to 315.3 million shares traded during May. Monthly value traded was also at a 21-month high after reaching 90.7 million rials in June compared to 50.3 million rials in the previous month.
(Writing by Brinda Darasha; editing by Daniel Luiz)
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© ZAWYA 2021
