By: Mahmoud Gamal
Dubai – Mubasher: The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) closed Wednesday’s trading session with positive performance, supported by blue-chip stocks, especially Emirates NBD after announcing headway toward closing its acquisition of Turkey’s Denizbank deal.
The DFM’s general index increased by 1.12%, or 30.62 points, to finish the session at 2,760.48 points.
Turnover grew to AED 342.42 million on Wednesday, compared to AED 359.13 million on Tuesday, while trading volume levelled up to 171.51 million shares, against 137.12 million in the prior session.
By the end of the session, the DFM’s market capitalisation increased by AED 3.4 billion, recording AED 361.73 billion.
The banks sector topped gainers with 3.17% as Emirates NBD jumped 6.05%, hitting the highest level in ten years.
The insurance sector grew 1.78% as Dar Takaful advanced 6.78%, while the transportation sector increased by 1.12% after Air Arabia and Gulf Navigation levelled up 3.63% and 0.24%, respectively.
On the negative side, the goods and services sectors plunged 2.96% and 1.5%, respectively.
Earlier in the day, Emirates NBD announced amending its deal with Sberbank of Russia to acquire Turkey’s Denizbank due to the steep fall in the Turkish lira.
The Dubai-based bank will buy DenizBank for 15.48 billion liras ($2.8 billion) instead of 14.6 billion liras.
Such transactions have lent a boost to the UAE markets, Mena Corp financial analyst Issam Kassabieh told Mubasher.
He added that Abu Dhabi Financial Group’s (ADFG) decision of acquiring Shuaa Capital in a reverse merger will also prop up the markets’ performance.
Translated by: Kholoud Mohamed Hussein
