Mashreqbank leads Dubai index higher, Abu Dhabi falls

Sept 30 (Reuters) – The Dubai index closed higher on Friday, boosted by a 15% surge in lender Mashreqbank ()while Abu Dhabi stocks slid amid volatility in the crude oil market.

Middle East crude benchmarks were mixed on Friday, with Oman and Murban lower, while Dubai edged higher on the last trading day of September.

In Dubai, the main stock index (<.DFMGI>) Up 0.7%, led by gains in heavyweight real estate and financial stocks, with blue-chip developer Emaar Properties (<开始读>) Up 1.4%, Dubai-based developer’s construction arm Emaar Development () rose 2.9%.

Shares in Mashreqbank rose after reports on Wednesday that the bank had received bids from several companies to buy stakes in its payments arm.

Among other stocks, low-cost carrier Air Arabia () Shares in the company rose 1.5% after its unit announced new direct flights to Moscow.

However, the index recorded a 3% monthly decline, its biggest monthly decline since September 2021.

In Abu Dhabi, the index (<.FTFADGI>) Down 0.7%, dragged down by a 2.6% drop in Abu Dhabi First Bank, the UAE’s largest lender ()energy company Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA) fell 1.6% ().

Health Insurance Provider Hayah Insurance () Shares fell nearly 10 percent after major shareholder Gulf Insurance Group sold its entire stake in the company.

Separately, Abu Dhabi-based hospital operator Burjeel Holdings set the price range for its initial public offering (IPO) at 2 to 2.45 dirhams ($0.5446 to $0.6671) per share, implying a maximum equity value of $3.3 billion. read more

The company intends to sell about 550.7 million shares or 11 percent of its issued share capital, including 200 million new shares to be issued by Burjeel.

The Abu Dhabi index fell 1.3 percent on the month, according to Refinitiv data.

(1 USD = 3.6726 UAE Dirham)

Reporting by Mohd Edrees from Bengaluru

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