Mideast Stocks: UAE stocks extend weekly gains on the back of robust oil prices and corporate earnings
The UAE stock market extended its weekly gains on Friday, boosted by excellent corporate earnings and high oil prices.
Crude oil prices, a major driver for Gulf economies, were on track for a sixth week of gains after Saudi Arabia and Russia, the world's second and third-largest crude producers, pledged to cut output through September, with October Brent crude futures up 43 cents to $85.57 a barrel at 0825 GMT.
The major share index in Dubai increased 0.8%, led by a more than 3% increase in Emirates NBD Bank, Dubai's largest lender, and a 2% increase in blue-chip developer Emaar Properties.
Empower, a district cooling supplier in Dubai that reported a drop in quarterly profit, lost 0.5% and was one of the index's three worst losers. Abu Dhabi's benchmark index finished flat after bouncing back and forth between tiny losses and gains, while hospital operator Burjeel Holding rose more than 10% to close up 8.8% after posting a greater than 51% increase in Q2 profit.
ADNOC Logistics & Services, a maritime logistics services provider, rose as much as 5.3% in early trade after its second-quarter profit more than tripled.
The Abu Dhabi and Dubai indexes each gain 0.3% and 1.2% week on week.
- ABU DHABI is unchanged at 9,786 points.
- DUBAI increased by 0.8% to 4,083 points.
(1 US dollar = 3.6726 UAE dirham)
Investing In UAE Stocks
Opening a stock brokerage account with a local broker listed on one of the three UAE stock exchanges—DFM, ADX, or Nasdaq Dubai—is the most popular method of investing in the UAE stock market. In order to purchase equities on any of the listed exchanges, investors must further apply for a NIN investor number at the DFM:
- the Financial Market of Dubai (DFM)
- the Securities Exchange of Abu Dhabi (ADX)
- the Dubai NASDAQ