Dana Gas rises on buyback talk

Dana Gas shares were among the top gainers yesterday after the company said it would consider buying back some of its shares. The shares climbed 4.7 per cent to 66 fils yesterday, after they had dropped more than 6 per cent on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the company released a statement saying it had enough liquidity to fund its growth plans. Despite Dana's advance, the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index eased 0.1 per cent to 2,515.39.

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank shares fell 1.3 per cent to Dh1.52 yesterday after it confirmed the previous day's rumours that it was going to buy the UAE retail banking operations of the Royal Bank of Scotland. It said it would pay US$100 million in the deal. The shares had gained 1.9 per cent on Wednesday on market rumours of the acquisition. The Dubai Financial Market General Index gained 0.8 per cent to 1,500.25. Air Arabia rose 2.4 per cent to 84 fils, after HSBC lifted its rating of the stock to "overweight" from "neutral", with a price target of Dh1.10.

Analysts said the low trading volumes of late might be a prelude to a long summer for investors. "It has been extremely slow, very low volumes. "Domestic money is on the sidelines and Ramadan is coming in August this year, which will exacerbate the slow summer in general," said Rami Sidani, the MENA region portfolio manager based in Dubai at Schroders. Elsewhere in the region, Qatar's main measure fell 0.3 per cent to 7,008.14, while Bahrain's benchmark firmed 0.1 per cent to 1,393.30. Kuwait's index was up 0.6 per cent at 6,583.10 and Muscat's bourse rose 0.2 per cent to 6,110.71. The Saudi Tadawul All-Share Index was closed for the day.

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