Real estate stocks prop up ADSM

(SAEED DAHLAH)   

 

Bumper demand for real estate sector stocks pushed the Abu Dhabi Securities Market up 1.39 per cent yesterday, while Dubai extended its gains for a fourth day.

Real estate has long dominated the capital’s bourse, but an abrupt slump in March saw these stocks tumble along with the rest of the market. However, with the turmoil that engulfed international exchanges now seemingly abating, Abu Dhabi investors are once again pumping money into the likes of Aldar Properties and Sorouh Real Estate.

This pair claimed almost half of the ADSM’s Dh1.15 billion turnover yesterday, with the former increasing by 2.86 per cent and the latter by 2.75 per cent.

Rak Properties increased by the same percentage as Sorouh. Etisalat also improved, rising 1.71 per cent to Dh20.85 after the telecoms giant revealed it was in talks with  Indian telecom companies about making an investment to enter the world’s second-largest telecom market, Reuters reported.

The DFM endured a topsy-turvy day, climbing 40 points up to the mid-session mark, before a sudden sell-off pushed it into negative territory. It recovered immediately only to fall into the red once again, although a late rally helped it close at 5,466 points, up 0.14 per cent. “As expected, the DFM faced selling pressure from the resistance of 5,530 points from last two trading sessions,” said Shiv Prakash, MAC Capital Advisors equity investment analyst.

“The intraday market opened at the same level as it closed on Wednesday and rose till the resistance area of 5,500 points. “The close was not that bullish and for any further upward move it has to break key resistance at 5,520 to see a rise till 5,750.”

Dubai’s turnover was slightly down on Wednesday, with 315 million shares worth a combined Dh1.44bn changing hands. Tamweel was the top-traded stock in cash terms, with Dh305 million shares snapped up to push it up 2.93 per cent to Dh7.36. This demand relegated Emaar to second place on the turnover chart for the first time this week as it closed unchanged on Dh11.35 after trading in a narrow 1.3 per cent band.

Arabtec bounced back after Wednesday’s shock drop, jumping 5.26 per cent to Dh12. Shuaa Capital also appears to have resumed its uptrend, climbing 2.44 per cent to Dh7.55. Between February 24 and March 12, the company increased by almost a third to reach a 52-week high of Dh8.59, before becoming embroiled in the rapid descent of the UAE markets in the latter part of March. This saw it slip back to Dh7.05, but with investor confidence now apparently restored as local markets decouple from their global counterparts, Shuaa could be among Dubai’s top performers in the immediate future, analysts say.

Emirates NBD fell for the second successive session, this time by 2.25 per cent to Dh10.95 to take its weekly losses to 7.75 per cent.

Tabreed was another stock to prosper, rising 6.32 per cent to Dh2.69 to make it Dubai’s top performing primary listing. The air-conditioning manufacturer is a perennial favourite of institutions and MAC Capital predicts the stock should climb to Dh2.90 if it can break the Dh2.71 resistance level.