Dana Gas lifts Abu Dhabi; some Saudi blue chips in advance

26/03/2018 06:08 AST

Gulf stock markets were generally little changed on Sunday, though Abu Dhabi's Dana Gas surged on news of plans for its first annual dividend for several years.

The Abu Dhabi index rose 0.8 per cent as Dana Gas jumped 8.3 per cent after the board said it would seek shareholder approval for a cash dividend for 2017 totalling 5 per cent of capital, or about 349 million dirhams ($95 million).

By diverting money to shareholders, the plan could complicate Dana's dispute with bondholders after the company's decision not to redeem $700 million of sukuk that it said had become unlawful after changes in Islamic finance.

In Dubai, real estate business Deyaar Development was the best performer and most heavily traded stock, gaining 2.5 per cent to 0.487 dirhams as it bounced from technical support on the November 2017 low of 0.470 dirhams.

Egyptian investment bank Naeem Holding traded thinly on its listing in Dubai. It closed at 2.40 dirhams, having traded in Cairo at the end of last week at $0.65, equivalent to 2.39 dirhams. In Cairo on Sunday the stock slipped to $0.64. The Saudi index closed almost flat but petrochemicals company Saudi Basic Industries, which has been attracting foreign money on Riyadh's expected entry to emerging market indexes, gained 0.9 per cent.

Another favourite of foreign investors, Al Rahji Bank, rose 0.7 per cent while Samba Financial Group strengthened 1.3 per cent. National Agriculture Development (NADEC) was among the best performers, up 4.4 per cent after announcing it had entered a definitive agreement to acquire dairy product and juice maker Al Safi Danone from two companies in a share swap.

The deal will increase the number of NADEC shares to 138.3 million from 84.7 million.

The Qatari index shed 0.8 per cent, pulled down by a 3 per cent decline for Qatar First Bank, the most heavily traded stock.

The Saudi Index index edged up 0.02 per cent to 7,843 points and the Bahrain benchmark edged up 0.1 per cent to 1,335 points. and the Oman index edged up 0.03 per cent to 4,803 points.

The Gulf Today