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19 March 2024

Heavy property buying helps ADX end up 1.54%

Published
By Matt Smith

Heavy buying in property stocks pushed the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange to its highest finish for more than a week.

The ADX climbed 1.54 per cent to 2,260 as it increased for the fourth straight session. It has surged almost six per cent over this period and should gain further ground today. Yesterday's heroes were Aldar Properties and Sorouh Real Estate, with the latter rising 7.94 per cent to Dh2.99, while the former was up 4.15 per cent atDh2.51.

In reality, however, both stocks made near-maximum gains of almost 10 per cent, but the use of average pricing again masked their true performance.

The same is true of etisalat, but to a lesser extent. The telecoms behemoth climbed 1.9 per cent to Dh10.15, although if last traded prices were used it would be up nearer three per cent.

Speculators bought Aldar ahead of the company's board meeting late yesterday where its fourth quarter results were due to be announced.

"Both Aldar and Sorouh have been hit recently and so it looks as though the market thinks they may have been oversold," said Sanyalaksna Manibhandu, Emaar Saudi Financial Services head of research. "The property sector is desperate for liquidity and so the completion of the merger of mortgage providers Amlak Finance and Tamweel would help end some of the uncertainty."

Turnover increased by three-quarters from the day before to an eight-session high Dh298 million. Aldar was dominant after seeing Dh150m of shares change hands, followed by Abu Dhabi National Hotels, which claimed trading worth Dh45m as it fell 2.2 per cent. Sorouh, Dana Gas and Rak Cement completed the cash trading top five.

Arkan was the another notable loser as it fell 2.03 per cent to Dh6.22, while Waha Capital slipped 1.82 per cent. Gainers outnumbered losers 20:9.


Higher volatility

The results season will see higher volatility. Typically, investors buy on rumour and sell on fact, so those companies which have performed the best of late are likely to see profit- taking once their figures are officially released, while the companies which were sold down may see some bounce if they exceed expectations.

"When there is high uncertainty, which is the case at present, investors have little risk appetite, but the market has been slowly building over the past five or six sessions and so people seem to be more optimistic over imminent company results," said Sanyalaksna Manibhandu, Emaar Saudi Financial Services head of research. 


DP World up 4%

DP World climbed four per cent yesterday, despite volumes falling by more than half from the day before.

The ports operator climbed one cent to $0.26 after 8.8 million shares were traded. Depa was not so lucky as it slumped to a new all-time low of $0.33. Both companies have now fallen by more than three quarters from their initial public offering price. No other stocks on the Nasdaq Dubai were active.