ADX turns bearish with losses in most sectors

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) faced downward pressures across the board yesterday, with loses in all sectors except the industrial one. Heavyweight etisalat remained flat and failed to support the index.

The ADX lost 23.93 points, or 0.89 per cent, to close at 2655.57 points amid weak and calm trading. The turnover remained very low, with 52.8 million shares worth Dh140.2 million changing hands.

Most active stocks went down, with Aldar dropping 1.3 per cent to Dh4.60, while Sorouh declined by 3.8 per cent to Dh2.52 and Rakprop fell 3.57 per cent to Dh0.53. Energy stocks went down, too, as Aabar fell 1.7 per cent to Dh2.30, Taqa lost 3.25 per cent to Dh1.18 and Dana dropped two per cent to Dh0.94.

Heavyweight etisalat attracted relative good trading yesterday but closed flat at Dh11. Banking stocks continued to face pressures, with heavyweights NBAD and FGB losing 1.3 per cent and 1.6 per cent respectively.

"Despite the downturn in the ADX, the market looks stable and is moving in a narrow range. Turnover is still very low and sellers are in control. However, there is some buying interest in leading stocks such as Aldar," said Mohamed Al Beheiri, Trading Manager at Tadawul for Shares and Bonds Mediation.

Humam Al Shamaa of Al Fajr Securities said Q4 results would determine the trend in the local markets. "There are high expectations that Q4 2009 results will be far better than Q4 2008 but investors have turned their focus on the comparison with Q3 2009. There were expectations that Q4 results would be better than Q3, but this view has changed now and the comparison will be critical in the coming weeks for the market direction. If the results are better, it will lead to a rebound."


UNION CEMENT RESULTS

Union Cement Company has reported a 63.6 per cent drop in its 2009 net profits. The company said in a statement to the ADX yesterday that its net profits last year were Dh56.5m, compared to Dh155.4m in 2008.

The company also reported a 58 per cent decline in its total sales revenues, which stood at Dh699.8m last year compared with Dh1.108 billion in 2008.

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