© Archyde.com. Screens showing stock prices in the Dubai Financial Market, with a photo from Archyde.com archive.
(Archyde.com) – The Dubai Stock Exchange closed higher on Wednesday, outperforming the rest of the Gulf region’s stock exchanges, while the Qatari index fell amid volatile energy prices.
It ended its losing streak since Friday and closed 1.4 percent higher, marking its best day since September.
Emirates NBD Bank, Dubai’s largest bank, rose 2.3 percent, while Traffic Toll Salik rose 2.4 percent.
Dubai Financial Market (DFM:) rose 3.6 percent after the company announced a 41.7 percent increase in net profit for the fiscal year.
Mashreq Bank (DFM:) rose 3 percent after it proposed an annual cash dividend of nine dirhams per share, up 800 percent from last year.
In Abu Dhabi, the index ended trading up 0.3 percent, continuing its gains for the third consecutive session, supported by a 1.5 percent rise in First Abu Dhabi Bank, the largest UAE bank.
Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, the UAE’s third-largest lender, rose 3.3%, its best day since early November, after its net profit grew 23% in 2022 and in the fourth quarter.
The bank also raised its dividend by 48.6 percent, to 0.55 dirhams per share.
The Qatari index closed down 1.2 percent, extending its losses for the third consecutive session, with most stocks remaining in negative territory.
Qatar National Bank, the Gulf’s largest lender, extended losses since Monday, down 2.9 percent, and Industries Qatar fell 1.8 percent.
Daniel Taqi El-Din, CEO of BD Suisse for the Middle East and North Africa, said that the Qatari index is still under pressure due to the sharp decline in prices over the past few weeks.
“However, it could find some support if energy markets recover in a more consistent way,” he added.
It lost 0.1 percent, affected by a 1.1 percent decline in Al Rajhi Bank (TADAWUL:) and Saudi Aramco (TADAWUL:) fell 0.2 percent.
The International Monetary Fund revised its growth forecast for 2023 to 2.6 percent, down 1.1 percentage points from its forecast in October.
Outside the Gulf region, the Egyptian Stock Exchange index fell 0.2 percent, affected by a 4.1 percent loss in the share of e-Finance for Financial and Digital Investments and a 4.8 percent decline in the share of Talaat Mustafa Group (EGX:).
Telecom Egypt (EGX:) and Financial Group Hermes (EGX:) fell 3.3 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively.
(Prepared by Rehab Alaa for the Arabic Bulletin – Edited by Yasmine Hussein)