UAE stock markets gain AED6.3 billion in weekend trading

The UAE financial markets closed with a profitability in weekend trading with heavy stocks, which strengthened their gains for the second straight session, amid continued buying by some corporations.

The market value share gains traded by companies amounted to AED6.3 billion, according to official figures released after the close of trading.

The general index of the Dubai Financial Market rose by 1.22 percent at 3,521 points, while the Abu Dhabi Securities Market general index closed at 4,424 points, a growth of 1.13 percent, compared with the previous day.

The value of deals over the past five sessions in the markets touched AED4.5 billion, and the number of shares traded was 2.5 billion through 32,500 transactions.

Brokers at the market said that transactions during the week were generally quiet amid caution from the largest segment of traders, especially small investors. They said the selective buying operations on some stocks were still the main feature of trading in the markets for the last five sessions, particularly, after the end of the corporate disclosure season of financial statements, and distribution of dividends to shareholders.

The brokers said there could be an improvement in the coming days after the start of the recycling portion of cash distributions at markets, as it happens every year.

The daily analysis of the transactions shows that the real estate and banking shares were the most supportive to the indicators at the two markets. Emaar shares rose to AED7.49 with a profit rate of 2.7 percent, while the Emaar Malls share rose to AED2.64, and DAMAC share jumped by more than 4 percent at AED2.86.

At the Abu Dhabi Securities Market, the shares of First Gulf Bank rose to AED12.65 and National Bank of Abu Dhabi to AED10.15, respectively. The rise of Etisalat share to AED17.70 has a positive role in supporting the capital market