Dubai stocks end rally; Bahrain drops on banks

A businessman looks at financial data displayed on a screen inside the Bahrain Stock Exchange. Bahrain’s bourse was the Gulf’s biggest loser yesterday, shedding 1.4%.

Reuters/Dubai

Dubai’s bourse ended a six-day rally yesterday as retail investors took profits, while banks dragged down Bahrain after a merger in the sector fell apart.

The rest of the region was mixed.

The main Dubai market index opened higher but then moved into the red as heavyweight Emaar Properties slid 0.8% in low-volume trading. Other property-related names and small-cap stocks favoured by retail investors followed suit, and the index closed down 0.7%.

Some of Dubai’s real estate names were still in the black, however; Union Properties rose 1.0% and Deyaar gained 0.8%.

Abu Dhabi’s bourse closed up 0.2% thanks to blue chips such as National Bank of Abu Dhabi, which added 1.8%. Bank of Sharjah dropped 6.6% after going ex-dividend.

Bahrain’s bourse was the Gulf’s biggest loser yesterday, shedding 1.4%.

Khaleeji Commercial Bank fell 2.0% after the lender and unlisted Bank Al Khair failed to agree on the terms of a merger and dropped the plan. The central bank has been encouraging mergers to help the sector recover from a real estate crash and political unrest that erupted in 2011.

Arab Banking Corp plunged its daily limit of 10% as it went ex-dividend. It jumped its daily limit for five straight sessions earlier this month in anticipation of its 5 US cents a share dividend.

“This is the first time since 2007 that the bank distributes a cash dividend. The movement in the stock over the last few weeks reflects market expectations regarding this dividend,” brokerage Mubasher said in an email.

Kuwait’s Agility, the largest logistics group in the Gulf Arab region, surged 7.4% after the company reported a 37% rise in 2013 net profit and proposed a higher cash dividend of 40 fils per share plus 5% bonus shares. It was the third most heavily traded stock in Kuwait.

Elsewhere in the Gulf, Saudi Arabia’s index gained 0.04% to 9,429 points; Oman’s measure rose 0.3% to 6,938 points; while Kuwait’s index added 0.2% to 7,554 points.

Egypt’s benchmark slipped 0.5% to 8,405 points yesterday.