Image Credit: Ahmed Kutty/Gulf News Archives
Dubai: Abu Dhabi and Dubai stocks advanced in early trades as strong blue-chip corporate earnings continued to provide guidance to investors in otherwise volatile market conditions. Some stocks in Qatar moved in opposite directions after reporting mixed numbers for the first quarter.
Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange traded 0.3 per cent higher at 6,081 points with First Abu Dhabi Bank showing a choppy trading, swinging between ups and downs before relatively stabilizing up 0.6 per cent. Its first-quarter results apparently failed to delight investors with profits edging up by 3 per cent on the back of steep fall in the impairment charges, which marks underperformance compared to its counterpart in Dubai, Emirates NBD, that posted a 12 per cent rise in the bottom-line.
But as the trading progressed, the investors looked to buy the lender’s prediction that it will post a better showing in the second half of this year banking on a pick-up in economic and business activity thanks to vaccination drive and improved macro economic outlook later in the year.
Banking and property duo continue to impress
Dubai Financial Market displayed an upward movement of 0.6 per cent at 2,616 points, propelled higher by the real estate and banking stocks. This marked a replay of the recent upbeat sessions where the two sectors led from the front after their blue-chip members wowed markets with the expectations-beating first-quarter earnings.
Deyaar Development traded as the top gainer with Emaar Properties and Emirates NBD joining in the rally. The trio succeeded in plotting their path back to profitable growth in the first three months, leaving behind the subdued showing in the pandemic-induced 2020.
Both the sectors are expected to perform even better in coming quarters as some recent polls suggest revised-up forecasts for the country’s economic growth during the current year, which will raise the private sector demand for credit and office and residential spaces.
Moving sideways
Qatar Exchange ticked up 0.1 per cent to trade at 10,853 points. Qatar Navigation traded on top of the list after reporting a healthier bottom-line with QR297 million in the first-quarter profits. Qatar Fuel and Qatar Islamic Bank also moved higher after displaying better quarterly performance. But United Development retreated 2 per cent after its profits dropped to QR46 million from QR49 million a year earlier.