Local stock markets lure liquidity amounting to nearly Dhs1.4 billion

Local stock markets attracted liquidity amounting to nearly Dhs1.4 billion at the close of trading on Monday, with International Holding Company (IHC) and Emaar Properties leading the trading.

The liquidity was distributed as follows: Dhs996.1 million in the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) and Dhs383.9 million in the Dubai Financial Market (DFM), after trading 633.3 million shares through executing more than 27,200 transactions.

The market capitalisation of listed stocks reached Dhs3.5 trillion at the end of today’s session, with Dhs2.795 trillion logged by ADX-listed stocks and Dhs713.2 billion logged by DFM-listed stocks.

IHC’s stock dominated the trading with around Dhs197.2 million, closing at Dhs399.5. It was followed by Alpha Dhabi attracting around Dhs86.4 million, then Multiply Group with about Dhs71.2 million.

In DFM, Emaar Properties’ stock led the activity, attracting around Dhs103.9 million, closing higher by 0.12 percent, followed by Gulf Navigation with liquidity of Dhs44.2 million, closing up by 3.67 percent, then Emirates NBD with Dhs42.8 million, closing at Dhs16.25.

Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) announced  that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Republican Stock Exchange “Toshkent” (RSE), based in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, to collaborate on a number of key initiatives.

The MoU will pave the way for the inclusion of RSE as the fifth member of the Tabadul Digital Exchange Hub, the region’s first digital exchange centre based on mutual market access, enhancing connectivity and opening new avenues for cross-border investment opportunities. The MoU underscores the commitment of both exchanges to enhance the global securities market through cooperation and shared expertise, emphasising the importance of collaboration for the effective development of market economies in both countries.

Under the terms of the MoU, ADX and RSE will collaborate to enhance their respective electronic trading and post-trading environments, share modern trading methods and technologies, and support each other in conducting educational and training programs aimed at fostering market growth and innovation.

Abdulla Salem Alnuaimi, Chief Executive Officer of ADX, said, “This Understanding with the Republican Stock Exchange serves as new milestone in our ongoing efforts to augment global connectivity and foster information exchange among diverse markets. This partnership expands our reach into Central Asia, aligning perfectly with our goals of increasing cross-border market efficiency and liquidity. We look forward to welcoming and adding RSE into the Tabadul platform in the near future. Together with the members of the Tabadul Hub, we aim to provide our investors with more access to international markets and innovative solutions to expand their portfolios, thus reinforcing our position as a leading institution driving growth in the global marketplace.” Giorgi Paresishvili, Chairman of the Board at RSE, said, “We are very excited to have signed MOU with the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, which paves the way for further collaboration between our exchanges. ADX’s Tabadul initiative is about mutual recognition of member-brokers and enabling cross-border trading and settlement of securities in various markets across the Middle East and Central Asia. Tabadul initiative bodes well for our strategy of enabling foreign investors’ easy access to Uzbek capital market and vice versa.”

The MoU is expected to strengthen cross-border market activity between the two countries and contribute to the growth of the securities market in both the United Arab Emirates and the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Wall Street is holding steadier Monday following its three-week losing streak. The S&P 500 was 0.3% higher in morning trading, coming off its longest weekly losing streak since September. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 99 points, or 0.3%, as of 10:30 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.2% higher.

Zions Bancorp. climbed after reporting stronger earnings for the latest quarter than expected. Analysts called it a solid showing, and its stock rose 2.7% to recover some of the sharp slide it took last year on worries surrounding the strength of the larger regional-banking industry.

That helped offset a 4% drop for Tesla, which announced more cuts to prices over the weekend. Elon Musk’s electric-vehicle company has seen its stock drop more than 40% already this year, and it will report its first-quarter results on Tuesday. It’s a big week for earnings reports generally, with roughly 30% of the companies in the S&P 500 scheduled to say how much they made during the year’s first three months. That includes several companies that have come to be known as part of the “Magnificent Seven,” beyond Tesla. This handful of companies was responsible for the majority of the S&P 500’s big gain last year, raising the bar of expectations for them to justify their stock prices.

Analysts believe those seven stocks, as a group, saw growth in their earnings per share slow to 39% last quarter from 63% at the end of last year, according to strategists at Bank of America. This past quarter may also have marked the trough for earnings declines among the other 493 companies in the index. The difference in growth between them and the Magnificent Seven should close by the end of the year, strategists Ohsung Kwon and Savita Subramanian said in a BofA Global Research Report.

WAM/ Agencies