Tadawul edges up 0.3% in thin trading

DUBAI: The Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) edged up 0.3 percent on Tuesday in the lowest daily traded volume since mid-September. The number of gaining and declining shares were equal at 66.

Dairy and juice producer National Agriculture Development jumped 4 percent after it fell 2.1 percent the previous session.

The two listed real estate investment trusts — a security, which provides investors with an extremely liquid stake in real estate — were some of the main laggards. Al- Jazira REIT lost 2.9 percent and was the worst performer on Tuesday and Riyad REIT fell 1.8 percent.

Stock markets elsewhere in the Middle East rose on Tuesday with Abu Dhabi gaining the most, buoyed by heavy trade in the shares of a newly merged bank while buying from foreign funds boosted Egypt.

Shares of recently merged First Abu Dhabi Bank jumped 4.8 percent in very heavy trade, helping lift Abu Dhabi’s index 1.8 percent.

Shares of Abu Dhabi National Energy (TAQA), however, retreated 5.3 percent as investors booked profits after they had soared 24 percent since Sunday.

On Tuesday, TAQA said govern- ment-run utility company Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority (Adwea) has raised its stake in the energy company to 74 percent from 52.38 percent.

Dubai’s index extended the 1.4 percent gains made on Monday to add 0.6 percent supported by gains in large and mid-sized shares.

Emaar Properties added 1.2 percent and Dubai Islamic Bank rose 1.8 percent.

In Qatar, the index rose 0.5 percent, recovering from some of the small losses made earlier in the day. Shares of Islamic lender Masraf Al-Rayan jumped 3.2 percent; on Monday they fell 3.0 percent as its shares went ex-dividend. But shares of Qatar International Islamic Bank dropped 4.5 percent as they went ex-dividend on Tuesday.

Egypt’s index added a further 1.6 percent to 13,265 points with a little over two-thirds of the shares closing higher.

“Some positive momentum is building in the market again mainly because of inflow of foreign funds, and the market may test technical resistance at the January peak of 13,544 points,” said a Cairo-based technical trader.