Ongoing regional tensions have significantly impacted the performance of Arab stock markets, as investors remain wary due to the escalating conflict between Iran and Israel, which has now entered its sixth day, raising concerns about increased instability in the area.
Total liquidity in the UAE markets exceeded 1.92 billion dirhams through more than 37,200 transactions. The Dubai Financial Market accounted for 33.5% of the total liquidity with 642 million dirhams through approximately 13,600 trades, while the Abu Dhabi market represented 66.5% with nearly 1.28 billion dirhams across 23,600 transactions.
Dubai
The Dubai Financial Market closed down by 1.2%, finishing at 5,306 points, with a total trading volume of 642 million dirhams.
Among the top gainers were International Financial Consultancy, which saw an increase of 14.3%, followed by Salama at 3.5%, Chimera Standard Emirates at 0.97%, Union Coop with a growth of 0.91%, and Wataniya at 0.7%. Tecom also rose by 0.6%.
Conversely, the biggest losers included Agility, declining by 5.3%, Amalak at 3.7%, and Emaar Development down by 3.6%. Additionally, Air Arabia saw a decrease of 3.4%, while Bank of Al Baraka fell by 3.2%. Dubai Islamic Bank edged down slightly by 0.1%, closing at 8.39 dirhams, with Drake & Scull dropping by 2.7% and Emaar Properties by 1.2% at 12.40 dirhams. Union Properties also fell by 1.8%.
Abu Dhabi
The Abu Dhabi Securities Market index closed down 0.42% at 9,496 points, with an overall trading value of 1.3 billion dirhams.
In this market, financial and investment stocks led the gains, with GFH stock continuing its strong performance for the second consecutive day, rising by 9.2%. I7 Group increased by 7.4%, Easy Lease by 5.1%, Braisite A by 4.2%, and ESG by 3.6%.
In terms of the biggest decline, Baladna led the losers with a drop of 9.3%, followed by Gulf Investment at 8.2%, and Food Holding at 7.5%. Sharjah Cement fell by 4.4%, and Respone Plus Holdings decreased by 4.2%. ADNOC Gas closed down by 0.6% at 3.32 dirhams, while Phoenix dropped by 0.8% to 1.20 dirhams.
Arab Stock Markets
The Muscat Stock Exchange index remained unchanged, while Kuwait’s main index declined by 1.5%, Bahrain’s index fell by 1.2%, and Qatar’s market experienced a decrease of 0.61%.
Saudi Arabia
The Saudi market index ended the session down 1.2%, closing at 10,591 points (-123 points), marking its lowest close since October 2023.
Most traded stocks saw declines, including Saudi Aramco and Al Rajhi Bank, both falling by under 1% to 24.90 riyals and 91.50 riyals, respectively. Aqua Power’s shares also decreased by 3%.
Nas Air, in its inaugural session on TASI, dropped 3% to 77.30 riyals with heavy trading volume of around 28 million shares, totaling 2.2 billion riyals.
Egypt
The Egyptian stock exchange concluded trading on Wednesday with a collective rise in indices, fueled by buying activity from foreign and Arab investors, while local investors showed a tendency to sell. Trading values reached 3.03 billion pounds, with market capitalization gaining one billion pounds to close at 2.183 trillion pounds.
The EGX 30 index rose by 0.37%, finishing at 30,838 points. The EGX 30 Capped gained 0.38%, closing at 38,267 points. The Total Return Index also jumped by 0.38% to close at 13,847 points.
Additionally, the EGX 70 Equal Weight Index increased by 0.54% to close at 9,040 points, while the EGX 100 Equal Weight Index rose by 0.56%, ending at 12,302 points. The Islamic Index also saw a boost of 0.63%, closing at 3,214 points.
Jordan
The Jordanian stock market experienced a decline due to profit-taking activities in leading stocks after two sessions of rising amid solid liquidity.
The general index fell by 0.26% to close at 2,647.93 points, with a trading volume of eight million dinars (approximately 11.2 million dollars). The shares of the Oil Refinery Company decreased by 0.41%, while the Phosphate Mines saw a drop of 0.14%. The Arab Bank’s shares fell by 0.38% to 5.2 dinars, although Arab Potash shares saw a slight increase of 0.16%.