Beirut SE (One month)
Current year high: 1,200.49 Current year low: 705.56
The Beirut Stock Exchange recorded marginal index movements and abnormally high turnover in the first trading weeks of 2010, the latter due to a spike in big-scale bank selling and buying. The MSCI Barra Lebanon index closed at 1110.97 points on January 22, a drop of less than half a percent from the start of the year. The big turnover came from the sale of 7.5 million common shares in Bank Audi Group, which were sold by Egyptian investment bank EFG-Hermes in a $913 million divestment on the Lebanese and international bourses. Big bank deals also included one between Byblos Bank and the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation. The IFC bought 8% of Byblos Bank for $100 million on January 22. Turnover on the Beirut Stock Exchange soared to a daily average of $51 million, compared to 2009’s $3.5 million daily trading average.
Amman SE (One month)
Current year high: 2,968.77 Current year low: 2,454.48
The Amman Stock Exchange started 2010 with no clear direction. The ASE
index climbed between Jan 6 and 14 but gave up those gains in downward momentum that commenced on Jan 19. The close of 2,525.75 points on Jan 24 put the market 1.4% lower than the start of the year. Average daily trade value in the review period was $33.56 million, marking a slow market below the 2009 average daily turnover of $51.53 million. According to statistics published by the ASE, total trade value in 2009 had been $13.7 billion, less than half of what it was in 2008. Sector indices moved disparately in the January review period; the insurance index showed the strongest fluctuations and on Jan 24 closed 2.63% lower than the start of the year. Banking and services also underperformed the general index, by 1 and by 0.56 percent, respectively. The industrial sector ended the period 0.2% up.
Abu Dhabi SM (One month)
Current year high: 3,239.74 Current year low: 2,137.15
The emirate’s newly acquired bragging rights to the name of Dubai’s super-burj notwithstanding, Abu Dhabi investors could cheer only very quietly in the first 16 trading sessions of 2010. Losing days outnumbered winning days three to one in the review period and the ADX index ended 5.2% down on January 24, when compared with the start of the year. Average daily turnover was $45 million in the review period, low when compared with the $76 million average daily trade value in 2009. By sub-indices in January 2010, the telecoms index did better than the pack but was still down 2.7%. Banking, construction, consumer and energy indices were all range-bound with the general index; the industrial index underperformed somewhat but the real estate sector tanked. It closed 17.76% lower on January 24 when compared with the start of the year.
Dubai FM (One month)
Current year high: 2,373.37 Current year low: 1,433.14
Despite the emirate’s newly opened super-tower, Dubai equity markets stepped right into a hole with the arrival of 2010. Down 12.95% versus the December 31 close, the DFM benchmark index closed Jan 24 at 1,570.09 points. Newly cross-listed Kuwaiti telecoms firm Hits Telecom was the exception in January performance as it gained 30.4% since its market debut at the end of December. Sector indices were universally down; real estate was tugged in on Jan 24 with a 25.8% loss since the start of the year. Aramex and Commercial Bank of Dubai were the only home players that achieved small gains in the review period. For all other stocks, the elevator traveled to the lower floors and the Dubai Financial Market scrip ended up in the basement — with a share price loss of 23.4%. Emaar Properties, not far behind, closed 23.1% down and Arabtec Holding dropped 19%.
Kuwait SE (One month)
Current year high: 8,371.10 Current year low: 6,391.50
Stocks on the Kuwait Stock Exchange moved at divergent strides in January; the presence of gainers in the 30% range was opposed with stocks that dropped up to 26%. The KSE general index closed at 7024.50 points on January 24, a quarter of a percent up when compared with the last close in 2009. Food, real estate and services were on the upside of the monthly charts in the January 2010 review period, whereas banking and investment indices pushed to the downside. Volume was muted in January with average daily trading value at $202 million, meager when compared with $305 million average daily turnover in 2009 and $545 million in 2008. Al Safat Energy Holding was the strongest gainer in the review period with a 34.9% share price gain. The National Company for Consumer Industries was at the other extreme of the scale with a drop of 25.8%.
Saudi Arabia SE (One month)
Current year high: 6,568.47 Current year low: 4,130.01
Saudi market sentiment was friendly in January, with more upside than downside sessions; the TASI benchmark index closed at 6,301.94 points on January 24, 2.6% higher when compared with the last close in 2009. Average daily trade value in the review period was $812.4 million. As in the other Middle East and North Africa markets, average daily trade values on the Saudi Stock Exchange in January were considerably reduced when compared with average daily turnover in 2009, which on the SSE was $1.33 billion. The investment sector excelled in the review period, with a gain of 12.1%. Banking and agriculture/food added more than 4% each. The media and publishing sector was an outlier on the downside, showing a 5% drop in its sub-index. Market cap leader Sabic gained 7.6%. Climbing 50%, Kingdom Holding Company was by far the strongest gainer in January.
Muscat SM (One month)
Current year high: 6,762.94 Current year low: 4,575.99
Tracing the path of the simple hill, a modest rise in the Muscat Stock Exchange index in the first days of January and an equivalent drop in the second half of the review period evened out to a zero-sum game where the MSM index closed at 6,367.78 points on January 24, down 2%, or one point and two tenths down from the last close in 2009. The average daily turnover was around $16.5 million, down from an average daily turnover of $23.7 million in 2009. The industrial, services and banking sub-indices ended the review period down by 2.1%, 2.3%, and 2.4%, respectively. Unlike with some of their Gulf Cooperation Council peers, the Omani financial markets suffered no disturbing headline scandals or very untoward investment risk stories in the first weeks of 2010.
Bahrain SE (One month)
Current year high: 1,696.46 Current year low: 1,413.81
A step dance sideways with a positive bias was how the Bahrain Stock Exchange welcomed 2010. The BSE index closed at 1,471.44 points on January 24, representing a gain of 0.9% when compared with the last close in 2009. However, average daily trading value slumped in January at slightly over $1 million, just over half of the average daily turnover of $1.9 million in 2009, which in turn was down sharply on the $8.4 million recorded in 2008. Sector indices on the BSE during the review period showed banking coming out on top with a gain of 8.43%. Hotels and tourism, industry, services and insurance indices all underperformed the general index slightly, which left the investment sector as the main loser with a drop of 2.94% in the period. Ahli United Bank and Gulf Finance House were the best individual gainers, closing 19.5% and 17.9% higher, respectively.
Doha SM (One month)
Current year high: 7,624.45 Current year low: 4,230.19
Qatar’s stock market slipped into 2010 and the Qatar Exchange’s benchmark index closed at four sixes — 6,666.00 points — on January 24, marking a loss of 4.21% from the start of the year. All sectors moved lower, banking suffering the least (3.1% down) and services the most (8.8% down). The real estate sector was the real culprit in driving the market lower. The announced merger of Qatar Real Estate Investment Co. into Barwa Real Estate drove QREIC shares up in the first part of January, but the overall sector trend was down. Ezdan Real Estate nosedived 43.4%, Barwa dropped 18.5%, and United Development Company (UDC) fell 5.6%. As the review period closed, UDC announced a 62% higher net profit for 2009, compared to 2008. January turnover on the QE averaged $58.4 million for each of the 17 trading sessions, compared with a $99.7 million daily average in 2009 and $189.8 million per session in 2008.
Tunis SE (One month)
Current year high: 4,594.76 Current year low: 2,943.71
The Tunindex entered 2010 by continuing its journey on the same course as in 2009: northward. Index values leapt more than 200 points in a few sessions in early January and the market closed at 4,586.18 on January 22, a new record. The uptrend was not all-encompassing, though, and the dozen of losing stocks in the period included Tunisair, with a drop of 5.2%. Companies in telecommunications, banking and manufacturing led the Tunisian exchange higher in January. With a gain of 20.1%, BIAT Bank ended the period as the exchange’s market cap leader. On the next rungs of the market cap ladder, Poulina Group and Banque de Tunisie recorded smaller gains of 0.5% and 1%. Infusion of fresh blood into the Bourse de Tunis is expected this year through IPOs of ferry operator CTN and of insurance company Tunis Re.
Casablanca SE (One month)
Current year high: 11,729.86 Current year low: 9,997.56
Completing the good readings of the North African trio, the Casablanca Stock Exchange index ascended more than 700 points between Jan 5 and Jan 20 when it closed above 11,000 points for the first time since October 20, 2009. Weakening slightly at the end of the review period, the Casa All Shares Index closed at 10,920.14 on January 22. Of market heavyweights, market cap leader Maroc Telecom advanced 8.5% while number two, Attijariwafa Bank, shed 0.9%. In the real estate sector, Group Addoha climbed 12.7% while CGN gained 2.4%. Average daily turnover in 2009 was recorded at $18.7 million, versus $43 million per average trading day in 2008.
Egypt CASE (One month)
Current year high: 7,249.55 Current year low: 3,389.31
Reaching a close of 6,657.42 points on Jan 24, the Egyptian Stock Exchange index EGX 30 achieved a 7.23% gain from the start of the month, with notable profit taking occurring at the end of the review period. The market’s $236 million average turnover in January was a step up from its average daily trade value of $200 million in 2009. The Egyptian bourse was not only a good performer in terms of index gains in 2009 versus other regional exchanges; its average daily trading value last year was less than a third lower than in 2008. Among large cap stocks, EFG-Hermes showed a period gain of over 20%. Share prices of the investment banking group rallied in the first two weeks of 2010. EFG-Hermes’ announced sale of its stake in Lebanon’s Bank Audi Group on Jan 18, realized a substantial capital gain.
