GCC markets decline amid low trading

The Tadawul had the sharpest decline today, falling 1.9%, while Bahrain fell 0.81%, Kuwait 0.81%, the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange 0.61% and the Dubai Financial Market 0.30%.

Dubai: Takaful rises 459% on first day of trading

The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) failed to keep its momentum, despite the rise of Emaar and Emirates NBD by 0.47% and 0.85% respectively today.

The decline of Dubai Islamic Bank by 0.85% and other leading shares like DFM, Dubai Investments and Amlak put the index under pressure.

Takaful registered a big jump on its first day of trading, rising 459% to Dhs4.59, compared to its IPO price of Dhs1.03. The share opened at Dhs5.30 and reached Dhs6.30 at one point. It traded Dhs195.2m out of the total trading of Dhs861, accounting for 34.7 million shares out of the 185 million shares traded on the market.

Abu Dhabi: Real estate leads the decline

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange came under pressure from all sectors except telecoms and insurance. The market saw the decline of 24 listed firms, with only 11 rising shares on a day with a low trading value of Dhs552m.

Aldar's share declined by 2%, Asmak 8% and Gulfar 5.8%, while Fujairah National Bank and Takaful fell by the maximum limit of 10%.

Saudi Arabia drops to October's rates

The Saudi market continued its decline for the ninth consecutive session, amid a low trading value of SR3.5bn only.

Prices for 110 listed shares declined, with only 11 rising. Sabic fell by 2%, while all other petrochemical shares also fell, including Al Mutaqademeh by 3.8%, Safco by 3.6% and Petrorabigh by 3.1%.

Banking sector shares also fell, although Saudi Hollandi and Samba both rose, by 1.2% and 0.76% respectively. Al Rajhi, on the other hand, fell by 1.8% and Al Inmaa by 3%.

The telecoms sector continued to decline, with STC down 1.1%, Mobily 2.1% and Zain 1%.

Kuwait: Strong rise for Salboukh

The Kuwait Stock Exchange was hit by profit taking today, suffering, like other Gulf markets, low trading. Just 157.5 million shares were traded, worth under KD100m.

Al Salboukh's share rose 4.7%, after the approval by its general assembly for the entry of a strategic partner, through the launch of an IPO, for 40.9 million shares worth KD7.1m.

Muscat posts record rose after Omantel profits

The Muscat stock market regained many of its losses today after Omantel announced record profits exceeding all expectations. Around one million Omantel shares were traded, worth OR2.4m. In total, 17 million shares were traded on the index, worth OR13.3m.

Omantel's shares rose by 0.48% after the company announced that its H1 profits rose by 54%, to reach OR74.8m.

Muscat Bank also rose, by 2.6%, and traded 1.8m shares. Oman National Bank climbed 2.4% and Sohar Bank 0.83% after trading more than 4.3 million shares.

Doha: Mawashi keeps its momentum

The Doha stock index rose slightly today, with an equal number of declining and rising shares. Just 7.7 million shares were traded, worth QR295.8m.

This included 2.6 million shares traded for Mawashi, which rose by 1.6% following its record profits. Qtel, the third largest share, rose 2.4%, while Azdan fell 0.50%, despite posting H1 profits of 239.6%, reaching QR408.9m.

Bahrain sees no rising shares today

The Bahraini market continued its decline, after facing pressure from the bank and investment sectors.

Trading value slightly improved, to BD1.1m, with 1.5 million shares traded. United Gulf Bank registered the sharpest decline, falling 5.4%, with GFH dropping 2% and Batelco 0.66%.