Dubai leads Gulf countries in capital gains – News

Published: Sunday, August 4, 2024, 6:34 PM

The Dubai stock exchange recorded the biggest gains among Gulf stock exchanges last month, according to the latest data.

According to Kamco Invest’s monthly GCC Markets report, the DFM General Index recorded a 5.9 percent gain to close the month at 4,268.1 points, marking its second consecutive monthly gain. The monthly performance brought the DFM Index’s year-on-year gains into the positive zone and to the second highest level in the GCC at 5.1 percent, the report showed.

Six of the seven DFM sectors rose during the month. The utilities index recorded the largest monthly gain of 8.3 per cent to end the month at 904.15 points, mainly due to a rise in Empower shares, which rose almost 13.0 per cent. The financial sector gained 7.7 per cent after the only company in the sector, National International Holding, saw its share price rise 163.9 per cent in July. The communication services index was next, recording a monthly gain of 6.1 per cent to end the month at 1,021.19 points, mainly due to a 6.1 per cent rise in the price of Emirates Integrated Telecom Co (du) shares. The property index also recorded a strong gain in July, gaining 5.3 per cent to end the month at 8,191.60 points.

On the downside was the consumer goods index, which fell by 2.3 percent over the month and closed at 91.56 points.

In terms of monthly stock performance, National International Holding topped with a 163.9% gain, followed by Shuaa Capital and Dubai Insurance Co. with gains of 80.2% and 28.9%, respectively. On the declining side, Emirates Islamic Bank topped with a 18.5% drop, followed by Gulf Navigation Holding and Agility with declines of 10.1% and 8.8%, respectively.

Total monthly trading volume increased by 25.6 percent to 5.3 billion shares compared to 4.2 billion shares in the previous month, while monthly value traded also increased by 49.4 percent. Emaar Properties shares topped the list in value traded with a total value traded of Dh1.9 billion, followed by Emirates NBD and Dubai Islamic Bank with Dh1.5 billion and Dh912.9 million, respectively. In terms of monthly volume, Drake & Scull International topped the list with Dh1.2 billion shares traded, followed by Shuaa Capital and Union Properties with Dh739.9 million and Dh393.3 million, respectively, during the month.

According to a WCapital property report, Dubai’s real estate market is set for significant expansion, with over 30,000 residential units expected to be delivered in the second half of this year. The total number of new residential units to be delivered in 2024 is expected to be around 48,000, up significantly from over 17,000 in the first half.

In Abu Dhabi, the FTSE ADX rose 3.1% in July 2024, closing the month at 9,338.96 points and recording its second consecutive monthly gain after a 2.2% gain in June 2024. In terms of sectoral indices, seven out of ten sectors recorded gains during the month.

On the gainers’ side, the Consumer Staples Index led the way with an 18.0 percent gain in the index to close the month at 14,927.33 points, mainly driven by a 19.3 percent gain in the shares of Agthia Group. All the constituents of the Consumer Staples sector saw their stock prices rise during the month. The Real Estate Index came in second with the highest gain of 16.0 percent as most of the constituents saw their stock prices rise during the month, led by Aldar Properties Co. with an 18.1 percent gain during the month, followed by Eshraq Investments which saw a 1.9 percent gain. The gain in Aldar Properties shares reflected its solid performance during the first half of the year.

On the downside, the utilities index led the way with a 13.3% decline in the month to end at 10,846.32 points, followed by the healthcare and consumer discretionary indices with declines of 3.5% and 1.1% respectively. Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, the sole component of the utilities index, fell 13.3% in July.

Shuaa Capital rose 80.2 percent, followed by Commercial Bank International and Bank of Sharjah with gains of 65.0 percent and 53.1 percent, respectively. On the declining side, ARAM Group fell 13.5 percent, followed by Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. and Hayah Insurance Co. with declines of 13.3 percent and 12.9 percent, respectively.

In terms of trading activity, the total monthly trading volume increased by 51.5 percent to 6.9 billion shares compared to 4.6 billion shares in the previous month, while the monthly trading value also increased by 46.1 percent to 25.6 billion dirhams compared to 17.5 billion dirhams in June 2024. International Holdings Company shares topped the trading value list with a total trading value of 5.5 billion dirhams, followed by Alpha Dhabi Holding and Al Dar Properties Co. with 2.0 billion dirhams and 1.7 billion dirhams, respectively.

In the broader region, GCC stock markets posted broad gains in July, supported by solid corporate earnings results that set the tone for the rest of the region’s earnings season. The MSCI GCC Index rose for a second straight month in July and closed the month with a gain of 4.4 percent, its largest monthly gain this year. The sector’s performance chart for the month also showed broad positive results in the GCC, the report said.