#AbuDhabi Shares at Record, Shrug Off Mideast Tension: Inside EM - Bloomberg

Abu Dhabi Shares at Record, Shrug Off Mideast Tension: Inside EM - Bloomberg

Abu Dhabi’s main stock index rose to a record, even amid heightened tensions in the region, as the benchmark’s biggest member surged on hopes of foreign inflows.

The ADX General Index climbed as much as 2.1% Sunday, boosted by gains for First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC, the biggest lender in the United Arab Emirates. The stock surged as much as 5.8% after MSCI Inc. last week announced a quarterly review that could trigger about $500 million in flows from abroad. Shares in Oman also gained while those in Dubai slid. Stock markets in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Egypt and Israel were closed for holidays.

The rally in Abu Dhabi came despite rising tensions in the Middle East as clashes between Israelis and Palestinians escalated. Israel’s benchmark TA-35 index fell 0.5% last week and the broader TA-125 declined 0.6%, the first weekly retreat since March 25.

The Palestine Stock Exchange Al Quds Index declined as much as 0.7% Sunday, paring this year’s gain to 3.4%. The market was closed for most of last week due to a holiday, when clashes increased.

Positive earnings that have beaten expectations for some companies in the UAE are offsetting geopolitical risk for now, according to Joice Mathew, the head of equity research at United Securities in Muscat.

“Geopolitics risk is back into the regional markets,” he said, adding that markets should reflect that as trading resumes this week.

MIDDLE EASTERN MARKETS:

• Dubai’s DFM General Index falls 0.9% as of 11:44 a.m. local time
• Emaar Properties -3%; Emirates NBD -0.8%; Emaar Malls -4%
• Damac Properties drops 3.2%, most in about a month after reporting results
• While contracted sales recover, “the reported numbers were weak, with revenue hitting its all-time low, likely a reflection of weak construction activity, as most projects approach completion,” CI Capital analysts Sara Boutros and Marlene Milad write in a note
• Oman’s MSM 30 Index rises 0.1%
• Last week, the U.S.-listed BlueStar Israel Technology ETF lost 4.9%, down for the third consecutive week, and the iShares MSCI Israel ETF retreated 3.6%.