Abu Dhabi hits four-year high, Saudi equities decline amid Canada row

dubai — Abu Dhabi’s stockmarket touched four-year highs on Wednesday, helped by bank stocks, while Saudi Arabia’s dipped amid a diplomatic row with Canada.

First Abu Dhabi Bank climbed by 0.7 per cent. Other banks also rose, with Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank up 1.8 per cent and Union National Bank rising by 2.8 per cent.

Banks are expected to be among the beneficiaries of a Dh50 billion ($13.6 billion) plan announced by Abu Dhabi in June to revitalise the economy. The Abu Dhabi index closed 0.3 per cent up, after hitting its highest level since late 2014 in earlier trading. In Saudi Arabia, PetroRabigh, a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Japan’s Sumitomo Chemical, tumbled by 8.2 per cent after it announced a 25.6 per cent fall in second-quarter net profit on Tuesday.

The Saudi index ended 0.4 per cent lower as investors worried about the fallout from a diplomatic dispute between Saudi Arabia and Canada.

The dispute, over Canadian support for jailed rights activists, threatens to hurt bilateral trade which largely consists of Saudi exports of petrochemicals, plastics and other products.

Dubai’s index was weighed down by Emirates NBD, which fell by 1.0 per cent. Deyaar Development was down by 5.8 per cent. Drake & Scull was down by 9.9 per cent.

The company has been lagging because of concerns about its financial position, business outlook and the outcome of an investigation by UAE authorities into financial violations by previous management .

0.3%

Jump in abu dhabi index