Liquidity in local equity markets reached approximately 1.4 billion dirhams yesterday, split between 916.3 million dirhams on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange and 475.4 million dirhams on the Dubai Financial Market, with 373.4 million shares traded across 31,600 transactions. Arab bourses recorded mixed performance amid a wait-and-see attitude ahead of fresh catalysts.
Total market capitalisation stood at approximately 3.868 trillion dirhams, with 2.88 trillion dirhams attributed to shares listed on the Abu Dhabi market and 987.6 billion dirhams to shares on the Dubai Financial Market.
Emaar Properties and Emaar Development together captured the largest share of Dubai market liquidity at 190.13 million dirhams, equivalent to 40% of the market's total liquidity.
The Dubai market index closed at 5,990.59 points, down 0.32%. Gainers included Talabat up 5.04%, Salama up 2.66%, The Symbol Corporation up 2.04%, and Spinneys up 1.58%. Masakin shares rose 2.4% to close at 1.29 dirhams on trading volumes exceeding 8 million shares.
On the downside, Emaar Development fell 2.25%, Salik dropped 2.2%, AMLAK Holdings declined 2.01%, and Takaful Emarat fell 1.96%. Emaar Properties closed down 0.8% at 11.94 dirhams, while Etihad Energy dropped 1.7% to 2.88 dirhams on trading volumes of nearly 7 million shares.
UAE investors were net buyers, posting net investment of 9.4 million dirhams after purchases of 212.3 million dirhams against sales of approximately 202.9 million dirhams.
The FTSE Abu Dhabi General Index (FADGI) rose 0.22% to 9,809.64 points.
ADNOC Gas led activity on the Abu Dhabi market, capturing the largest share of total trading with liquidity of 165 million dirhams. Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank followed with 141.8 million dirhams, and Alpha Dhabi Holding came third with 87.4 million dirhams.
Abu Dhabi also recorded a large block trade on shares of Anan Investment Holding valued at 17.9 million dirhams, executed on 15 million shares at a price of 1.19 dirhams per share.
Abu Dhabi gainers included Hayat Insurance up 6.45%, National Tourism and Hotels up 3.92%, Investment Bank up 3.7%, and GFH up 1.9%.
Decliners included Dar Al Takaful down 4.7%, Orascom down 3.8%, Gulf Medical Projects down 2.93%, and Burjeel Holdings down 2.63%.
Borouge fell approximately 0.4% to 2.510 dirhams on trading volumes exceeding 9 million shares. Aldar Properties declined 0.1% to 8.200 dirhams on trading volumes of nearly 9 million shares.
Arab bourses posted mixed results. The Saudi Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) fell 0.28%, Kuwait's index dropped 0.07%, Qatar's index declined 0.77%, and Bahrain fell 0.21%, while the Muscat Stock Exchange rose 0.19%. Outside the Gulf, the Egyptian Exchange announced the suspension of trading on Thursday in observance of the official public holiday declared by the government to mark the anniversary of the June 30 Revolution, with trading set to resume from next Sunday's session.
In detail, the Saudi TASI fell 0.28% to close at 10,827 points on trading volumes of 4.3 billion riyals.
Declines between 2% and 5% were recorded in shares of Savola Group, Miahona, Saleh Al Rashid, Rasan, Canadian Medical Centre, Electrical Industries, Maharah, Cenomi Retail, Al Mutaqadima, Inaya, and Tasheel.
On the other hand, Eastern Province Development led the gainers list with a rise of 10% to 15.86 riyals, while BSF, Al Marai, Jarir, Al Tansneya, and Al Awwal posted gains of between 1% and 3%.
The Amman Stock Exchange fell amid selling pressure on blue-chip shares against a backdrop of healthy liquidity. The general index closed down 1.23% at 3,806 points, with trading value reaching 16 million dinars. The industrial sector index fell 2.40%, the services sector index declined 1.34%, and the financial sector index dropped 0.75%.
A comparison of closing prices showed 28 companies posting gains and 42 companies recording declines.