Silence on lira sends ENBD even lower

TRADER INTEREST SWITCHES TO DIB AND FAB AS DFM GENERAL INDEX SLIPS 2.28% LOWER

Emirates NBD shares fell yesterday, extending losses for the eighth session as traders moved to other banks like Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) and First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB).

Emirates NBD closed 2.28 per cent lower at Dh8.99. The stock, which has a weightage of more than 7 per cent on the index, has shed 15 per cent over the past eight sessions.

The Dubai Financial Market General Index (DFMGI) closed 0.81 per cent lower at 2,817.98.

“Emirates NBD continued its decline, with investors’ appetite for the stock diminishing due to the lack of information from the bank’s representatives on the implications of the lira drop,” Issam Kassabieh, senior financial analyst at Menacorp, said.

“As expected, investors found comfort in First Abu Dhabi Bank after exiting other banking stocks,” Kassabieh added.

FAB closed 0.35 per cent higher at Dh14.35 while Dubai Islamic Bank advanced to close 1 per cent higher at Dh5.06. Drake and Scull, however, shed 4.19 per cent to close at Dh0.457.

Gulf Finance House (GFH) ended the day flat at Dh1.41 while DP World eased 0.91 per cent lower to close at $21.70.

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) General Index closed 1.16 per cent higher at 4,886.14 while Agthia rose 5.59 per cent to Dh4.91.

Waha Capital closed 3.35 per cent higher at Dh1.85. Etisalat closed 0.2 per cent higher at Dh16.90 while Sharjah Islamic Bank edged up 0.82 per cent to close at Dh1.23.

Elsewhere in the Gulf region, Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul index closed 0.35 per cent lower at 7,865.68. Alinma Bank closed 0.91 per cent lower at 21.78 Saudi riyals.

Saudi Basic Industries Corp closed 0.32 per cent higher at 123.80 riyals.

Al Rajhi Bank closed 1.19 per cent lower at 83.20 riyals.

The Muscat MSM 30 index closed 0.37 per cent higher to 4,389.44.

The Qatar Exchange index closed 0.81 per cent lower at 9,556.64. The Kuwait index closed at 5,205.74, down 0.23 per cent. The Bahrain all share index closed 0.16 per cent higher to end at 1,343.30.