Arab markets under pressure for the week amid geopolitical caution

Red dominated the performance of most Arab stock markets last week, with sustained selling pressure on blue-chip shares in a wave of declines that swept across many of the main indices.

The negative performance came as markets watched regional geopolitical developments with extreme caution, prompting investors to favour quick liquidation and move away from high-risk assets.

The Dubai Financial Market index closed at 6,018.35 points, falling 2.35% over 5 sessions. During the week, shares in Taleem Holding rose 5.2%, United Foods 3.3%, Spinneys 2.4%, and Amanat Holdings 1.54%.

On the other side, International Financial Advisors fell 8.86%, National Cement 8.3%, Drake & Scull 6.97%, and Emaar Properties 5.86%.

The FTSE Abu Dhabi General Index (FADGI) closed at 9,880 points, down 1.37% over 5 sessions.

ADNOC Gas led activity on the Abu Dhabi market, capturing the largest share of total trading with liquidity of 849.7 million dirhams over 5 sessions, followed by Aldar Properties attracting 729.94 million dirhams, then ADNOC Distribution with liquidity of 629.86 million dirhams.

On the Abu Dhabi market over 5 sessions, Emirates Insurance shares gained 12.2%, Arid 10.4%, Abu Dhabi National Takaful 8.99%, and Emirates Mobility 7.5%. Inan Holding fell 9.35%, Invest Bank 6.45%, APEX Investment 6.3%, and Phoenix Group 1.04%.

The Saudi stock market ended the week's trading in the red, weighed down by selling pressure that pushed the main index below its opening levels for the week.

The main index opened the week at 11,109 points and managed to climb during trading to reach its highest point at 11,128 points, but selling forces and profit-taking prevailed, causing the index to retreat gradually and close at the end of the week at its lowest recorded level for the period at 10,933 points.

With this close, the market recorded a weekly loss of 187.9 points, equivalent to a decline of 1.69% compared with the previous week. In terms of trading activity and liquidity, the market saw active interaction in shares of 268 listed companies traded during the week.

Total share volume traded reached approximately 998.3 million shares, executed through more than 1.86 million buy and sell transactions, with investors injecting weekly liquidity exceeding 19.53 billion riyals.

Amid the broad decline in prices of blue-chip shares and listed companies, total market capitalisation was recorded at approximately 9.49 trillion riyals.

CGS shares topped the list of biggest losers with a decline of 16.73%, followed by Leejam shares which fell 9.85%, then DBS with a drop of 9.29%. On the other side, Al Asmak shares topped the weekly gainers with a rise of 45.43%, followed by Wafra at 12.49%, then Nassij which gained 9.23%.

Kuwait market indices posted mixed performance last week amid declines across ten sectors, with the Premier Market index falling 1.02% to 9,126.44 points, while the All-Share index fell approximately 0.83% to 8,687.4 points.

The Main Market 50 index also fell 1.35% to 9,674.84 points, while on the other side the Main Market index rose 0.12% to close at 8,742.92 points.

The market capitalisation of traded shares fell to 52.05 billion dinars, compared with 52.49 billion dinars at the end of last week, representing a decline of 436 million dinars.

Although last week was limited to only 4 sessions, trading was more active than this week, during which weekly trading values fell to 447.97 million dinars, trading volumes also declined to 1.68 billion shares, through 111,430 transactions.

Eva Hotels shares topped the list of biggest weekly decliners, falling approximately 20.5%, followed by Osoul Company with a drop of 19%, then Marakez at 14.15%. On the other side, Al Takhassosi Company topped the biggest gainers with a rise of 59%, followed by Gulf Fittings shares up 29.51%, then Midan at 28%.

The Qatar market also recorded a weekly loss under pressure from a broad-based sectoral decline, with the main index falling 2.18% (229.11 points) to 10,281.81 points.

Market capitalisation of traded shares at the end of the week stood at 619.73 billion riyals, compared with 635.61 billion riyals at the close of last week, representing a decline of 2.50%.

Weekly trading values reached approximately 1.83 billion riyals, with trading volumes of 669.81 million shares through 114,890 executed transactions.

Mesaieed shares topped the list of biggest decliners, falling 5.49%, followed by QAMCO shares which fell 5.26%, then Doha Bank which declined 4.98%. On the other side, Lesha Bank shares topped the weekly gainers with a rise of 14.51%, followed by Dlala Company which gained 11.88%, then Al Amma at 9.28%.

Bahrain Bourse ended its weekly trading in the green, supported by a broad positive performance across the main indices in a week limited to only 4 sessions. The Bahrain All Share index posted growth of 0.67% by the end of trading, closing steadily at 2,041.60 points.

In a related development, the Bahrain Islamic Index followed this positive performance, posting gains of 0.40% to end the week's trading at 977.53 points.

In terms of trading activity and liquidity, investors injected total liquidity of approximately 6.27 million Bahraini dinars, the result of trading in approximately 25.79 million shares.

As for the performance of listed companies, the balance tilted in favour of rising shares, with the list of top gainers covering 7 companies, while share prices of 5 companies declined.

POLTRY shares topped the biggest gainers with a rise of 5%, followed by NBB which climbed 2.47%, then APMTB by 1.61%. BISB shares topped the biggest decliners with a fall of 4%, followed by ESTERAD which dropped 2.44%, and DUTYF by 1.28%.

Amid broad-based declines across traded sectors, the Muscat Stock Exchange index (Muscat 30) fell 3.5% to 7,316.65 points, compared with last week's closing level of 7,582.24 points.

Total securities traded rose 21.12%, total trading values also rose 16.73%, and the number of transactions grew 21.56%.

Al Batinah Development and Investment shares topped the list of biggest weekly decliners, falling 17.65%, followed by Oman Chlorine which fell 10.81%, then Muscat Insurance with a drop of 9.91%. On the other side, Al Hassan Engineering (in liquidation) topped the gainers with a rise of 16.67%, followed by Omani Packaging with a gain of 9.94%, and Al Maha Petroleum Products Marketing at 8.06%.

The main EGX30 index fell 2.24% during the current week, closing at 51,443 points, the EGX70 index fell 0.21% during the current week, closing at 15,511 points, and the EGX100 index fell 0.74% during the current week, closing at 21,196 points.

Foreign and Arab investor transactions recorded net purchases of treasury bills on the secondary market of approximately 1.1 billion dollars during the week, according to the Egyptian Exchange's weekly report. Foreign investor transactions recorded net equity inflows of 84 million pounds during the current week's sessions, while Arab investor transactions recorded net equity inflows of 103.6 million pounds.