By: Mahmoud Gamal
Dubai – Mubasher: The UAE stock markets are expected to revive in the beginning of 2018, in line with rebound of liquidity grabbed by the new initial public offerings (IPOs) and positive forecasts for the firms' annual financial results, analysts told Mubasher.
The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) ended Wednesday 1.44% down to 3,404.09 points, whereas the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) inched up 0.06%, to 4,384.36 points.
In the previous period, ADNOC Distribution was listed on the ADX, whereas Emaar Development was floated on the DFMGI.
There are a lot of catalysts now that may pave the way for a positive start for the bourses in 2018, the financial analyst, Zeyad Alkemry said.
The first catalyst is based on achieving strong financial results by the end of 2017 in all sectors, especially the banks sector which may grow 9% on annual basis, compared to 2016, Alkemry added.
Alkemry noted that the financial results of telecommunication and real estate sectors are expected to remain stable.
Another catalyst is the global institutions’ reports which show that the UAE’s economy is strong.
Alkemry forecast that these catalysts will boost liquidity, and may lead to 15% growth on the bourses during the first quarter of 2018.
The UAE stock markets are still having strong opportunities for medium-term investments as the stocks reached attractive levels, Issam Kassabieh, analyst in Menacorp said.
On Wednesday, Emaar Properties’ board of directors approved distributing exceptional profits for shareholders at a value of AED 4 billion. While the stock fell 6.23% to AED 7.22 after 26.65 million shares were exchanged, with a turnover of AED 192.39 million.
Distributions of Emaar Properties had been expected to be at AED 1 per share, but the company announced distributions of 56 fils per share, Kassabieh concluded.
Translated by: Mohamed Hesham Azab
