Abu Dhabi shares advance, buoyed by Fed stimulus, oil gains, Arabtec drops
Monday, 8 November 2010
DUBAI, Nov 7 (Bloomberg): Abu Dhabi stocks rose the most in more than two weeks, leading a Gulf rally, after global shares and oil prices advanced as the Federal Reserve announced another round of bond purchases to boost the world's biggest economy.
First Gulf Bank PJSC, the United Arab Emirates lender controlled by Abu Dhabi's ruling family, rose to the highest intraday level since May. National Bank of Abu Dhabi PJSC increased 2.9 per cent. The ADX General Index climbed 1 per cent, the most since Oct 21, to 2,777.33 at 12:14 pm in Abu Dhabi. The GCC 200 Index advanced 0.2 per cent.
Global stocks jumped last week after the Fed announced plans to buy an additional $600 billion of Treasuries in a second round of quantitative easing. The central bank kept its pledge to hold interest rates low for an "extended period" after Chairman Ben S Bernanke said the programme could be modified in some way. The dollar last week fell the most in four against the currencies of six major trading partners.
"The dollar exchange rate may depreciate" further and "could eventually make UAE assets cheap for international investors," said Nabil Farhat, partner at Abu Dhabi-based Al Fajer Securities.
All of the Gulf Cooperation Council's members except Kuwait peg their currencies to the dollar.
In the US, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index ended the week with a gain of 3.6 per cent at the highest in more than two years. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index increased 2.3 per cent last week, the biggest gain in two months.
The 21-country benchmark MSCI Emerging Markets Index surged 4.5 per cent.
Crude oil rallied 6.7 per cent, ending the week at $86.85 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest settlement price in more than two years. The six nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council, including the UAE and Saudi Arabia, supply about a fifth of the world's oil.
First Gulf jumped 4.1 per cent to 17.6 dirhams, the highest since May 24. National Bank of Abu Dhabi rose to 12.35 dirhams, the highest intraday level since May 10.
In Dubai, Arabtec Holding PJSC lost 3.7 per cent to 2.07 dirhams, the lowest level in a month. The biggest construction company in the UAE by market value reported a 96-per cent drop in third-quarter profit, missing analysts' estimates as a property slump and project cancellations hurt earnings.
First Gulf Bank PJSC, the United Arab Emirates lender controlled by Abu Dhabi's ruling family, rose to the highest intraday level since May. National Bank of Abu Dhabi PJSC increased 2.9 per cent. The ADX General Index climbed 1 per cent, the most since Oct 21, to 2,777.33 at 12:14 pm in Abu Dhabi. The GCC 200 Index advanced 0.2 per cent.
Global stocks jumped last week after the Fed announced plans to buy an additional $600 billion of Treasuries in a second round of quantitative easing. The central bank kept its pledge to hold interest rates low for an "extended period" after Chairman Ben S Bernanke said the programme could be modified in some way. The dollar last week fell the most in four against the currencies of six major trading partners.
"The dollar exchange rate may depreciate" further and "could eventually make UAE assets cheap for international investors," said Nabil Farhat, partner at Abu Dhabi-based Al Fajer Securities.
All of the Gulf Cooperation Council's members except Kuwait peg their currencies to the dollar.
In the US, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index ended the week with a gain of 3.6 per cent at the highest in more than two years. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index increased 2.3 per cent last week, the biggest gain in two months.
The 21-country benchmark MSCI Emerging Markets Index surged 4.5 per cent.
Crude oil rallied 6.7 per cent, ending the week at $86.85 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest settlement price in more than two years. The six nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council, including the UAE and Saudi Arabia, supply about a fifth of the world's oil.
First Gulf jumped 4.1 per cent to 17.6 dirhams, the highest since May 24. National Bank of Abu Dhabi rose to 12.35 dirhams, the highest intraday level since May 10.
In Dubai, Arabtec Holding PJSC lost 3.7 per cent to 2.07 dirhams, the lowest level in a month. The biggest construction company in the UAE by market value reported a 96-per cent drop in third-quarter profit, missing analysts' estimates as a property slump and project cancellations hurt earnings.