Gulf mostly quiet as Dana soars before court hearing

Dubai : Gulf stock markets were mostly quiet in moderate trading volumes yesterday as Abu Dhabi-listed Dana Gas jumped ahead of a court hearing on its effort to avoid redeeming $700 million of Islamic bonds.

Abu Dhabi’s index edged up 0.3pc as Dana jumped 13.2pc; it was the market’s most heavily traded stock by far.

A court in the emirate of Sharjah was expected later on Monday to hear a case in which Dana is seeking to have its sukuk declared invalid under United Arab Emirates law.

However, the Sharjah court will not necessarily issue any ruling and the hearing could be adjourned. Legal actions related to the sukuk in both Sharjah and Britain may continue for months, even years, before the case is resolved, people familiar with the case have said.

Dubai’s index edged up 0.2pc as Union Properties, the most heavily traded stock, climbed 3.3pc after saying it planned to list its ServeU facilities management unit in Dubai in the second half of 2018.

Bahrain’s Al Salam Bank, the second most heavily traded stock in Dubai, jumped 7.7pc to 1.12 dirhams after a 6.1pc gain on Sunday, when a disclosure on the Bahrain exchange showed a key person involved with the bank had bought 250,000 shares.

In Bahrain, the bank’s shares surged 8.5pc to 0.115 dinar, equivalent to 1.12 dirhams.

Khaleeji Commercial Bank, another Bahraini bank which has soared in big trading volumes since it listed in Dubai last Tuesday, plunged 9.9pc to 1.36 dirhams. Its shares in Bahrain sank 5.8pc to 0.113 dinar, equivalent to 1.10 dirhams.

Saudi Arabia’s index slipped 0.5pc as Najran Cement dropped 2.2pc after its board decided to halt its third production line, which has a daily capacity of 6,500 tonnes, and restart its second line, with a capacity of 3,000 tonnes, because of high inventories of clinker.

Saudi cement shares have risen sharply in recent weeks partly because of hopes for a pick-up in the cement industry as the government eases fiscal austerity. But Najran’s decision suggested improvement in the industry might not come quickly.

In Qatar, the index fell 0.4pc but Qatar First Bank, the most heavily traded stock, surged 6.7pc, continuing a rebound from record lows that began in late
November.

In Egypt, the blue-chip index rose 0.4pc. Sharkia National Co for Food Security surged 10pc after it said it had appointed Adel Abdel Halim al-Banna as acting chief financial officer. But Suez Bag plunged 10pc to 34.85 pounds after Tora Cement said it had sold its 4.52pc stake in Suez Bag for 26.01 pounds per share.‍ ‍