Investors buy up Arkan shares

Markets Wrap: Investors bought up shares of Arkan Building Materials after the Abu Dhabi concrete manufacturer passed a key price milestone.

The ADX General Index added 0.1% to 2,651.48. Delores Johnson / The National

Investors bought up shares of Arkan Building Materials after the Abu Dhabi concrete manufacturer passed a key price milestone.

Arkan jumped 7.1 per cent to 75 fils on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange yesterday.

"The shares hit a strong support at 70 fils, the last time it was at that level was in February," said Nabil Al Rantisi, the managing director of brokerage at Menacorp in Abu Dhabi. "People saw it as an opportunity," he added.

On the broader market, trading activity was lukewarm after strong advances earlier in the week. Aldar Properties fell 0.7 per cent to Dh1.32.

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank gained 0.6 per cent to Dh3.25.

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index added 0.1 per cent to 2,651.48. "The market is taking a breather, there is no real selling," said Mr Al Rantisi. "What you are seeing is pure speculation on specific stocks, while other retail investors are taking profits."

The Kuwaiti firm Acico Industries, another concrete maker, said it would remove its secondary listing on the Dubai Financial Market exchange on October 23.

The company did not state the reason for its withdrawal from the bourse. The exchange could not be reached for comment yesterday.

The Dubai Financial Market General Index was little changed, up 0.08 per cent, to 1,628.39.

Elsewhere in the region, Kuwait slipped 0.02 per cent to 5,993.19; Bahrain lost 0.5 per cent to 1,061.80; Oman's MSM 30 added 0.02 per cent to 5,663.39; Qatar's QE Index was flat at 8,482.09.

The Saudi Tadawul All-Share Index fell 0.25 per cent to 6,790.20.