Banks big winners as traders lock in gains

Abu Dhabi's banks were among the day's winners as traders locked in earnings ahead of the release of reports by many of the capital's biggest banks, due tomorrow.

But they were pipped to the post by RAKBank, which saw a 6.57 per cent gain in its share price to Dh4.70.

The stock's gains came as Ras al Khaimah's largest bank by assets reported a 39.9 per cent increase of net profits for the quarter to Dh261.5m. The banking sector was up 0.61 per cent as a whole, as First Gulf Bank's shares saw an increase of 1.2 per cent to Dh16.10, while National Bank of Abu Dhabi rose 0.4 per cent to Dh11.85.

The only bank to buck the upward trend was Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, which fell 3.7 per cent to Dh3.08, having reached its highest level in two years on Thursday.

Shares in Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) were suspended because of a board meeting.

Saad al Chalabi, an institutional trader at AlRamz Securities in Abu Dhabi, said banks were among few stocks seeing substantial movements: "The whole day was just a dump."

But Mr al Chalabi said Abu Dhabi banks were among the big movers of the day, seeing "massive interest across the board".

"They've seen gains on the part of all of these and the expectation is that there are more gains," he said.

Mr al Chalabi said RAKBank's stock had made large gains in spite of low trading volumes on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, showing those investing in the stock were most likely seeking long-term positions as part of block trades.

"Because it's so illiquid, it makes it not favourable for funds to trade at all, unless someone's taking a strategic position in the bank."

Emirates NBD is the next bank to report, releasing its quarterly earnings later today.