UAE shares edge up amid month-end window dressing

Budget carrier Air Arabia was among the winners, gaining 1.9 per cent to Dh1.60. Pawan Singh / The National

UAE markets posted small gains on Thursday as sideways trading continued amid a mixed earnings season.

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index edged up 0.2 per cent to 4,538.72. The index rebounded after five days of losses.

The Dubai Financial Market General Index rose 0.2 per cent to 4,143.21. It was the second straight day of gains after four sessions of losses.

For the week, however, the indexes both lost 1.3 per cent.

“Basically what you can see is sideways trading during the results season. Some of the results have been good and some have not been so impressive. The mix has been sideways-down,” said Sanyalaksna Manibhandu, a research analyst at NBAD Securities.

“The other important thing about today is that it is the last day of trading in July. That had led to the markets in the UAE going up by today’s close, a bit of window dressing.”

Among the winners in Abu Dhabi were RAK Properties, which rose 3.1 per cent to Dh0.66, and Dana Gas, inched up 1.5 per cent to Dh0.55.

In Dubai, Dubai Islamic Bank climbed 2.7 per cent to Dh7.50 after reporting strong earnings on Wednesday.

The budget carrier Air Arabia was also among the winners, gaining 1.9 per cent to Dh1.60.

“It will be interesting to see how DIB performs in August,” said Mr Manibhandu.

“The results came out and they were very impressive. Obviously there is some short-term profit taking. I think if DIB’s stock comes a bit down, there will be people to pick it up for medium-term investment.”

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