Dual-listed Shares Witness Buying In Quiet Dubai Market

Dubai: Dual-listed companies such as Salam Bank Bahrain, Gulf Finance House, HITS Telecom witnessed buying while other bluechips saw lacklustre trade.

Salama Bank closed 8 per cent higher at Dh1.43, while Gulf Finance House closed 2.86 per cent higher at Dh1.44. Ithmaar closed more than 2 per cent higher to Dh0.504.

Total traded value was placed at Dh310 million, compared to an average of Dh272 million last week. The highest traded value was more than Dh1 billion last year.

“Low liquidity has affected both markets for two months now. The markets started the year on an encouraging note, but that failed to convert into a long-term trend. Ithaar Al Salam Bank, GFH, and Dubai Islamic Bank gad been most active in the past few weeks,” Menacorp said in a note.

Rest of the market remained lacklustre even as the Dubai index closed steady.

The Dubai Financial Market General index closed 0.17 per cent lower to 3,206.56.

“It is to be noted that Emaar Malls stock has been on the rise for the last three sessions, which could trigger long-term bullish trend on a stock that has been perceived as undervalued,” said Menacorp in a note.

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange general index closed 0.11 per cent higher at 4,609.55.

First Abu Dhabi Bank, which will go ex-dividend on Tuesday, may weigh on Abu Dhabi index. First Gulf Bank has the highest weightage on the Abu Dhabi index after Etisalat. FAB closed 0.43 per cent lower at Dh11.60.

Elsewhere in the Gulf, Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul index closed 0.03 per cent lower at 7,366.83, while the Nomu index closed 1.05 per cent lower at 3,122.30.

The Qatar exchange index closed 0.81 per cent lower at 8,454.18. The Muscat MSM 30 index closed 0.30 per cent lower at 4,988.00. The Kuwait index closed 0.57 per cent higher at 6,805.91.