Etisalat leads rebound in Abu Dhabi bourse

Heavyweights in the telecom and banking sectors supported a recovery in the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) yesterday after five sessions of pull back.

The ADX index gained 11.19 points, or 0.39 per cent, to close at 2848.11 points at the end of trading. Etisalat was the main player in the upside movement in the market and gained 0.95 per cent to close at Dh10.75.

The stock witnessed some buying interest after it hit its support areas at Dh10.40 due to earlier profit booking on the distribution of cash dividends and bonus shares.

The market, in general, had a calm session with low trading activity, which was clear in the drop in turnover. Only 50 million shares worth Dh97.8 million changed hands during the session.

Dana Gas was the top active player and saw some buying interest from its support levels, advancing by 1.12 per cent to Dh0.90.

Real estate and energy stocks remained the top active ones in the market yesterday. Aldar rose slightly to Dh4.64, while Sorouh fell to Dh2.51 and Rakprop remained flat at Dh0.53.

"The ADX's performance remained weak with some concentration on etisalat after the stock went down under pressures from profit booking during the past few sessions. Etisalat is attracting interest and this helped the ADX index to rebound," said Marwan Shurrab, Vice-President of Gulfmena Alternative Investments.

"However, there were accumulations in the market after the index went down during the past few sessions and current price levels are attractive for investors."

Flat session

Sharjah Insurance Company (Sico) ended the session flat at Dh5.85.

Sico's annual general assembly meeting has approved the distribution of a 10 per cent cash dividend and shareholders registered by April 15 will be eligible for the dividends.

FGB, nbad top gainers

Heavyweights in the banking sector also supported the ADX index with FGB and NBAD among the top gainers.

FGB advanced 1.39 per cent to Dh18.25. The bank continued its buyback programme and increased the number of shares it has bought back to 28.63 million.

FGB can buy back an additional 108.87 million until the end of the year. FGB also said in a statement that it would announce its Q1 results on April 21.

NBAD also advanced by 1.27 per cent to Dh12.00. However, ADCB, ADIB and UNB retreated during the session. "There is good buying interest in FGB and NBAD as they have strong fundamentals. Both banks have limited exposure to the troubled companies in the GCC region. They also reported very strong provisions last year which will cover all potential losses from their operations; so the outlook of the banks is encouraging," said Marwan Shurrab.

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