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28 March 2024

ADX is down but remains above crucial support level

Published
By Matt Smith

 

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange fell for the second successive day, although it held above a crucial support level.

The ADX dropped about 0.74 per cent to 5,003, which is 51 points below Monday's two year high.

Inertia in the capital's real estate stocks appears to have halted the ADX's march.

The ADX weathered the downturn in global exchanges during the first quarter of 2008 much better than Dubai did. The capital's index is up 9.9 per cent this year, but valuations on most of its active stocks seem to have now reached a temporary limit.

Aldar and Sorouh fell 1.68 and 1.36 per cent respectively, while etisalat dropped 0.7 per cent. Aabar fell 3.84 per cent to wipe out much of its recent gains, but the irrepressible Arkan closed up yet again, this time adding 1.8 per cent to Dh5.21.

Like Dubai, turnover also slumped markedly, with total trading worth Dh731 million, more than a quarter down on the May average.

"Abu Dhabi volumes were actually higher than those of Dubai in early trading, but then became more subdued," said Ayman El Saheb, Darahem Financial Brokerage director of operations.

"The ADX is stable and is not seeing a slide in stock prices. It's important not to panic when we see profit taking, like we did on the ADX yesterday. The market remains higher than it was before the most recent rally, so the mood is still quite bullish.

"It's extremely difficult for any market to make continuous gains and it's unrealistic for investors to think it could. The ADX is stabilising, which bodes well for future."

The capital's energy sector took the biggest hit, with Dana Gas and Taqa falling 1.9 and 1.1 per cent respectively.