By: Bedour Alraei
Abu Dhabi – Mubasher: The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) saw a negative performance in the first half of 2017, weighed down by the fall of blue chips in the real estate and telecom sectors.
The main index decreased 2.66% or 120.97 points to reach 4,425.40 points.
The market saw trading of 17.16 billion shares through 213,855 transactions, with a turnover of AED 28.24 billion.
The consumer staples sector led losers with a 16.21% decline as Asmak went down 24.60%.
The real estate sector decreased 12.56% after Eshraq Properties and Aldar Properties sank 15.69% and 11.20%, respectively.
The telecom sector retreated 7.98% after Etisalat went down 7.98%. Similarily, the investment sector sank 6.76%, while the industrial sector declined 0.57%.
On the other hand, the insurance sector topped gainers with a 15.83% rise. The energy sector also rose 13.11% after Dana Gas went up 20.75%.
The services sector levelled up 1.09% as Gulf Medical Projects (GMPC) grew 37.92%. The banks sector rose 0.56% after First Abu Dhabi Bank advanced 6.6%.
Market capitalisation reached AED 425.862 billion on Thursday, compared to AED 444.238 billion on Wednesday.
The markets saw a volatile performance during this period, with specific stocks rising, Eyad Al Buraiki, general manager of Al Ansari Exchange, told Mubasher.
The markets were weighed down by the decline of oil prices in early June along with global economic slowdown, in addition to lower trading volume and turnover during the holy month of Ramadan, the analyst added.
The UAE bourses saw speculations on low-priced stocks, Al Buraiki noted.
In the second quarter of 2017, the main index fell 0.4%, with a trading volume of 6.44 billion shares that generated AED 10.87 billion.
In June, the general index declined 0.04%, generating AED 3.81 billion from the exchange of 3.11 billion shares.
The markets are expected to see a better performance in early July, in line with the beginning of first-half financial announcements which are expected to be positive, Al Buraiki concluded.
Translated by: Julian Nabil
