UAE shares lose Dhs130bn

Today UAE shares regained Dhs10.4bn of their losses, after the Dubai Financial Market rose by 3.6% and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange closed up by just under 1%.

Dubai still topped the Gulf markets for weekly loses, down 22.5%, which is the highest in its history. The DFM has declined 46% since the beginning of the year.

ADX came second with a weekly decline of 19%, followed by Doha at 18.7% and Tadawul with a weekly decline of 17.5%.

Muscat, despite its 8.3% rebound today, came closed the week down 15.5%, while Kuwait fell 7.2% and Bahrain escaped relatively unscathed with a drop of 5.3% for the week.

Low interest rate pushes indices up

Today's rebound was a result of the central banks' decisions to lower interest rates in UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain, which followed the US Federal Reserve's decision to reduce the interest rate in America.

Stock markets have received new liquidity, enabling them to rebound strongly, with some leading shares up by their maximum limit. But some traders are still afraid of the future, keeping a close eye on international markets.

Dubai: Emaar sees weekly decline by 26.5%

Dubai finally saw the colour green, after Emaar rose 3.6% to Dhs5.70, but they still registered a weekly decline of 26.4%.

Many experts believe that the interest rate reduction by the UAE central bank helped the local bourse rebound today, with prices becoming very attractive to investors.

Some shares rose by their maximum limit, such as Arabtec, which rose by 13% to Dhs7.69, after declining strongly over the week by 38.4%.
Dubai Investments rose by 5.6% and DFM by 3.9%, while Shuaa lost all yesterday's gains, closing down 6%.

Abu Dhabi: Banks pressurize the index

Real estate and energy shares, which had led the decline before, were behind today's rise. Aldar closed up 3.6% today, while posting a weekly decline of 28.6%, Sorouh closed up 3.2% today with a weekly decline of 29.7%.

Other banks, including Union National Bank, continued to make sharp losses, while Sharjah Insurance fell by 10%.

The UAE general index declined by 19.4%, with a weekly value of Dhs8.2bn, including Dhs5.3bn for Dubai and Dhs2.8bn for Abu Dhabi.

Kuwait: Zain and banks up by their maximum

Kuwait Stock Exchange posted a strong rebound today, after the government's decision to support the market, which included lowering the interest rate.

National Bank of Kuwait, Kuwait Commercial Bank, KFH, Gulf Bank and Zain rose today by their maximum limits, while , which won a $18.3m deal from US Army, rose by 6.7% and Global by 6.2%.

Muscat: biggest winner

Muscat saw the biggest rebound among all Gulf markets today, after all shares bar Salalah Mills rose.

Four shares dominated 60% of the total trading, which reached OR14m, including Muscat Bank, which rose by 9% after posting a 44% rise in Q3 profits. Dohfar Bank rose 9.7%, again following its announcement of healthy Q3 profits of 50.3% to OR22.1m from OR14.7m. Omantel closed up 10%.

Doha: Profit taking reduces profits

Doha market saw a strong rebound after sharp declines over the week.

Al Rayyan, Naqilat, Industries Qatar and Islamic Bank dominated 82.5% of the total trading, which reached 17.9 million shares. Naqilat rose by 2.4%, Industries Qatar 1.8%, Maserf bank 1.6%, QNB 3.6%, Qtel 2.1%, and Doha Bank 1.2%.

Bahrain National Bank posts 4.3% rise in profits

Bahrain stock market rose by 0.50%, after support from Ithmaar and GFH which dominated 47.6% of the day's 4.2 million traded shares. Ithmaar rose by 7.8% and GFH 7.4%.

Bahrain National Bank posted a 4.3% rise in third quarter profits of BD35.1m, compared to BD33.6m last year.