Abu Dhabi stocks on Monday finished lower for a fifth consecutive day of trading, dragged down by lower oil prices and a sell-off in banking shares.
Brent crude futures opened the week lower, falling below US$51 per barrel before recovering to $51.31 late in the afternoon.
Dubai shares finished in positive territory following gains by DIB, while Saudi stocks also rose.
The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index closed 1.2 per cent lower at 4,382.32, taking losses for the past five sessions to just under 5 per cent.
“There is an overall weakness in the market that is driving stocks lower, mainly due to the drop in oil prices for the past week,” said Ali Adou, a fund manager at The National Investor in Abu Dhabi.
“We’ve also seen both retail and institutional investors exit FGB now that the stock has gone ex-dividend, and ahead of the share swap with NBAD.”
FGB shares closed 3.6 per cent lower at Dh12.05, while NBAD shares finished 2 per cent lower.
Eshraq Properties led gains, rising 3.5 per cent to Dh1.18.
Shares in Dubai traded within a narrow range for much of the day, before closing up 0.6 per cent at 3,501.18 owing to a late surge by DIB.
Dubai Investments shares recovered ground after losing 9 per cent of their value over the previous six trading sessions, closing up 2.6 per cent on Monday at Dh2.38.
Shares in GFH rose to their highest level in about six years, up 7 per cent to Dh2.75, after the Bahraini investment firm announced it would discuss “new strategy and acquisition transactions” at its board meeting on Thursday.
jeverington@thenational.ae
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THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Constant Variable (CVT)
Power: 141bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: Dh64,500
On sale: Now
COMPANY PROFILE
Company: Eco Way
Started: December 2023
Founder: Ivan Kroshnyi
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Electric vehicles
Investors: Bootstrapped with undisclosed funding. Looking to raise funds from outside
Fixtures
Wednesday
4.15pm: Japan v Spain (Group A)
5.30pm: UAE v Italy (Group A)
6.45pm: Russia v Mexico (Group B)
8pm: Iran v Egypt (Group B)
Abaya trends
The utilitarian robe held dear by Arab women is undergoing a change that reveals it as an elegant and graceful garment available in a range of colours and fabrics, while retaining its traditional appeal.
ETFs explained
Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.
ETFs have zero upfront fees and annual charges as low as 0.07 per cent a year, which means you get to keep more of your returns, as actively managed funds can charge as much as 1.5 per cent a year.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
TERMINAL HIGH ALTITUDE AREA DEFENCE (THAAD)
What is THAAD?
It is considered to be the US's most superior missile defence system.
Production:
It was created in 2008.
Speed:
THAAD missiles can travel at over Mach 8, so fast that it is hypersonic.
Abilities:
THAAD is designed to take out ballistic missiles as they are on their downward trajectory towards their target, otherwise known as the "terminal phase".
Purpose:
To protect high-value strategic sites, such as airfields or population centres.
Range:
THAAD can target projectiles inside and outside the Earth's atmosphere, at an altitude of 150 kilometres above the Earth's surface.
Creators:
Lockheed Martin was originally granted the contract to develop the system in 1992. Defence company Raytheon sub-contracts to develop other major parts of the system, such as ground-based radar.
UAE and THAAD:
In 2011, the UAE became the first country outside of the US to buy two THAAD missile defence systems. It then stationed them in 2016, becoming the first Gulf country to do so.
Top 10 most competitive economies
1. Singapore
2. Switzerland
3. Denmark
4. Ireland
5. Hong Kong
6. Sweden
7. UAE
8. Taiwan
9. Netherlands
10. Norway