By: Mahmoud Gamal
Mubasher: The GCC stock markets are expected to see further gains during the first week of February, in line with the announcements of banks’ annual financial profits, analysts told Mubahser.
By the end of January, most of the GCC bourses rose, led by the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) which jumped 9.4%, followed by the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) and Boursa Kuwait, in addition to the Dubai Financial Market which added 1.5%.
Solid results
Positive financial results of some GCC-listed banks, as well as their cash dividend distribution, are likely to boost the stock markets in the region in the first week of this month, member of the advisory committee of the Emirates Institute for Banking and Financial Studies (EIBFS) said.
Dubai Islamic Bank’s (DIB) stock has seen sell-offs despite posting good cash dividend payments, which was lower than the dividend distributions in the previous years as the bank has proposed for a capital hike, Wadah Al-Taha added.
Most of the GCC-listed banks have reported robust and stable financial results, Al-Taha stressed, projecting the active stocks in the Gulf bourses to witness more momentum investing.
Investment opportunities
For his part, vice president of Investment Research at KAMCO Raed Diab told Mubasher that investors will focus their trading on blue-chip stocks, mainly banks, over the coming weeks.
Investors in the GCC bourses are anticipating the remaining listed-firms to reveal their financial results for 2018, Diab said.
He noted that many stocks have hit attractive levels, which will encourage traders to boost their investments in these stocks.
Upward trend
Moreover, the economist Mohamed Al-Maimouni said that the GCC-listed stocks will maintain the upward trend, particularly Tadawul that its trading volume reached SAR 4.5 billion.
Banks’ annual financial results which beat expectations have pushed up the markets over the past period, Al-Maimouni indicated.
Investors are anticipating further financial results, especially Saudi-listed blue chips such as Al Rajhi Bank, which will consequently boost Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI), he highlighted.
Translated by: Mai Ezz El-Din
