UAE markets 24 Dec 2007

UAE market news & discussions for 24 December 2007 Both the ADSM and DFM rose about half a percent today with solid levels of turnover. Al Dar properties continued its strong climb and topped the traded value charts in Abu Dhabi while Union Properties stood out in Dubai with a big rise on heavy trading. Emaar also had a decent pick up. On the DIFX, DPW was the only stock traded, rising 1.7% to $1.18 on thin trading. Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank confirmed yesterday they were in talks to buy a 25% stake in Malaysia's RHB Capital. ADCB shares fell 1.3% on increased volumes today. Another 30 million Aldar shares were added to the total outstanding, bringing it to 2.147 billion, an increase of 1.4% from the convertible sukuk. Aldar shares continued to soar, up another 4.6% today, and 32.5% for the month, completely confounding our understanding of the words "share dilution". Planet Pharmacies bought Julphar's distribution network for AED 150 million, half of which was Julphar's money anyway, since Planet Pharmacies is a joint venture set up by Global Investments and Julphar, announced last week. Oasis Leasing announced they had signed an agreement to buy a 42.5% stake in Bahrain's Addax Bank, following the October 2007 signing of an MoU for the purchase. OILC shares fell 0.8% on thin trading today. Moody's gave a stable rating for UAE banks but said that increased competition is likely to mean tighter margins going forward. The Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry has reassured all UAE residents that inflation should be down to just 3.4% 0... by 2012. A Reuters poll indicates UAE inflation will be just over 10% for 2007. In the meantime, the DCCI says GDP growth will average 7% from 2008 to 2012. Emirates Business reported that the Ajman Airport project announcement has prompted a 30% increase in property prices. Since last week's announcement, not the original one in 2003. The Khaleej Times reported that Bahrain's parliament was considering a novel approach to stemming hefty increases in property prices in the state - banning foreign ownership of property.

• 24 December 2007 financial and business news for the UAE
• Marketwatch UAE December 2007
• What stocks to buy?
• Dubai Financial Market General Index (DFMGI) Comments 01 Dec 07
• 23 December 2007 shares and financial news for DFM and ADSM

More UAE stock market news and discussions...

best stock rises symbol price change FBICO 3.63 +0.33 +10% DRIVE 4.88 +0.44 +9.9% RAPCO 3.90 +0.35 +9.9% RAKNIC 5.70 +0.42 +8% ADNH 9.95 +0.62 +6.6%

worst stock falls symbol price change ADSB 4.65 -0.30 -6.1% OEIHC 33.30 -2.10 -5.9% FOODCO 4.05 -0.21 -4.9% UCC 4.03 -0.18 -4.3% ASMAK 6.54 -0.16 -2.4%

top volume symbol value (AED) price EMAAR 874,203,130 14.35 ALDAR 510,402,443 12.60 UPP 484,960,007 5.24 DFM 407,417,429 6.84 SOROUH 380,631,689 8.64

Dubai Financial Market

The DFMGI rose sharply as soon as trading started, almost hitting 5900 points, but then fell back down during the day with a late rise again to close at 5862 points, a 0.55% increase and turnover a decent AED 2.9 billion.

Emaar Properties (EMAAR) was the highest traded stock by value with AED 870m worth of deals and a 2.5% increase to 14.35. Union Properties stood out with AED 485m turnover and a 5.4% rise to 5.24. Du Telecom (DU) rose 3.2% to close at 6.48 and the other 5 stocks rising didn't see more than a 1% increase.

ALMADINA had the worst fall of 2% to finish at 9.80 dhs, GULFNAV fell 1.2%, Emirates NBD (ENBD) fell 1.1%, and another 7 stocks fell less than 1%.

Abu Dhabi Securities Market

The ADSMI rose 0.43% to close a fraction of a point below 4600 pints from a healthy AED 1.73 billion of turnover. The two property stocks, Aldar up 4.6% and Sorouh up 0.8%, dominated trading and made up about half of that value.

Big rises on over AED 1m of traded value for DRIVE increasing 9.9% to 4.88, and ADNH increasing 6.65% to 9.58. Another six stocks rose more than 5%, all on few trades.

FH had a relatively busy day with a 4.2% increase to 11.40, NBS also actively traded and up by 2.5%. Bank Of Sharjah (BOS) rose 1.2% and First Gulf Bank (FGB) 1.1%. Etisalat (ETISALAT) rose just 0.2% to close at 23.40.

Aabar Petroleum (AABAR) was the worst of the losers on active trading, falling by 1.75% to 3.92. Sudan Telecom (SUDATEL) was down 1.6%, ARKAN 1.5%, RAK White Cement (RAKWCT) 1.4%, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) 1.3%, and the remaining falls on thin trading or less than 1%.

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