Dubai’s equities market continues to stand out as the most significant gainer among Gulf bourses this year, boasting a 19.7% gain, according to Kamco Invest’s GCC Markets Monthly Report for November. Saudi Arabia follows with a 6.7% increase, marking the only other index with gains in 2023. Dubai’s market surge is attributed to the government’s diversification program and its growing appeal as a secure investment amid geopolitical uncertainties.
GCC Equities Witness Positive Trend in November
Optimism in Global Markets Drives Gains
The MSCI GCC index gained 5.2% in November, signaling the first monthly gain in four months for GCC equities. The positive trend is primarily attributed to optimism in global markets, driven by expectations that interest rates have peaked, and central banks may consider rate cuts in the second half of the coming year.
Sectoral and Market Performance Highlights
Qatar Leads, Dubai Third-Biggest Gainer
Qatar emerged as the best-performing market in the GCC, achieving a 5.4% return, followed by Saudi Arabia and Dubai with gains of 4.6%. On the sectoral front, most regional indices experienced gains, with pharma & biotech leading at 21.4%, followed by consumer durable & apparel and healthcare indices. Large-cap sectors like banking showed impressive gains of 6.6%, while energy and materials indices recorded relatively smaller gains.
Dubai Financial Market General Index Analysis
Positive Monthly Gains Despite Varied Sector Performance
The DFM General Index displayed mixed sector performance in November, with the real estate sector (+10.0%) and the financial sector (+2.5%) contributing significantly to the positive overall index performance. Noteworthy share price increases in Deyaar Development (+14.0%) and Emaar Development (+10.2%) fueled the double-digit gain in the real estate sector. However, communication services and consumer staples indices recorded declines of 3.9% and 2.5%, respectively.
Top Monthly Gainers and Decliners
National General Insurance Leads Gainers, Takaful Emarat Insurance Tops Decliners
Bloomberg’s monthly stock performance report highlighted National General Insurance as the top gainer, with a 44.9% increase in share price. Takaful Emarat Insurance led the decliners, recording a share price decline of 15.9%.
Abu Dhabi Market Performance and Trading Activity
FTSE ADX Index Surges 2.3% in November
Following two consecutive months of declines, the FTSE ADX index surged 2.3% in November, closing the month at 9,559.27 points. Eight out of ten sectors on the exchange recorded gains, with the Health Care index posting the most significant increase at 12.7%.
Trading Activity in ADX
Improved Activity and Top-Traded Stocks
Trading activity in ADX improved in November, with a 7.3% increase in the total volume of shares traded. Multiply Group emerged as the most active stock, with 512.4 million traded shares, while IHC led in terms of value traded with Dh4.8 billion.
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