Banks boost Abu Dhabi bourse, other Gulf markets lose steam

Two major banks boosted Abu Dhabi’s stock market early Monday after strong quarterly earnings, but other Gulf bourses lost steam after oil prices pulled back following last week’s rally.

Abu Dhabi’s index climbed 1.7 percent in the first hour of trade as First Gulf Bank jumped 6.2 percent. Late on Sunday it reported an 11 percent profit rise to 1.72 billion dirhams ($468.4 million), well above analysts’ average forecast of 1.46 billion dirhams. The stock had soared 12.4 percent on Sunday in anticipation of the earnings.

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank surged 5.5 percent after posting a profit of 1.19 billion dirhams, at the top end of forecasts of 986 million and 1.12 billion dirhams.

Most other actively traded Abu Dhabi stocks barely moved.

Dubai’s stock index, which jumped 4.9 percent on Sunday, pulled back 1.7 percent early on Monday. Emaar Properties slid 2.4 percent.

Qatar’s index edged up 0.3 percent as the most heavily traded stock, Vodafone Qatar, gained 2.1 percent.

In Bahrain, Al Baraka Islamic Bank tumbled 7.1 percent in unusually heavy trade. Chief executive Adnan Ahmed Yousif said on Sunday that the bank planned to open a sharia-compliant bank in France next year and to acquire a bank in Indonesia either this year or in 2017.

Source: Reuters