Beirut SE (One month)
Current year high: 1,200.49 Current year low: 737.84
> Review period: Closed: April 21 – 1,143.23 Period change: 2.74%
A cone-shaped rise and fall on the Beirut Stock Exchange kept the MSCI Lebanon index gains modest in the review period. BLOM Bank was the best gainer in April with 16.1%, followed by Byblos Bank (common shares) with 14.8%. Byblos shareholders approved a 66% rights issue on April 12, boosting interest in the scrip around that time. Other good news for banks came from ratings upgrades by Moody’s, in line with a sovereign upgrade, and by Fitch. Market cap leader and real estate stock Solidere weakened in the review period.
Amman SE (One month)
Current year high: 2,968.77 Current year low: 2,396.28
> Review period: Closed: April 21 – 2,561.04 Period change: 1.72%
Rather noticeable volatility reigned on the Amman Stock Exchange, where the ASE benchmark index could not sustain an intra-month rally and closed the review period only 1.72% up from the last close in March. Earlier in April, the index had risen to near 2,650 points, its highest level since last October. Although the Housing Bank for Trade and Finance moved 6.3% lower, other banking stocks showed resilience and their sector index ended the period 4% higher. Market cap leader Arab Bank gained 7.6%. The indices for industrial and insurance stocks dipped into negative territory.
Abu Dhabi SM (One month)
Current year high: 3,239.74 Current year low: 2,441.28
> Review period: Closed: April 21 – 2,820.45 Period change: -3%
There was no fun and gains for equities in Abu Dhabi this April, but for the year to date the index was still up 2.8%. The general trend was downward across all sectors on the exchange and the best performing stock in the review period was out-of-towner Qtel, which advanced 22.6%. Aldar Properties lost 9.1%. The worst performing sub-indices were consumers, down 9.7%, followed by real estate and telecommunications, which lost 6.7% and 6.3%, respectively. Pundits have it, however, that the investor confidence in Abu Dhabi and across GCC markets is on a positive track.
Dubai FM (One month)
Current year high: 2,373.37 Current year low: 1,533.36
> Review period: Closed: April 21 – 1,730.51 Period change: -6.1%
Book and run was the motto of Dubai investors, who apparently hurried to cash in gains achieved in March and reacted nervously to any hint of unfavorable news on the DFM. Investor behavior sent the index tumbling in the review period and pushed it back into negative territory for the year to date – the region’s only index to be in the red by that measure. For the three weeks in April, only six stocks on the DFM could show gains. Losers included well-known names across all sectors, such as Aramex, Oman Insurance, du, Arabtec, Emirates NBD, and Emaar.
Kuwait SE (One month)
Current year high: 8,371.10 Current year low: 6,650.80
> Review period: Closed: April 21 – 7,244.30 Period change: -3.84%
Being far south of Iceland’s ash cloud didn’t do much for equities in Kuwait in April. The KSE index was the GCC markets’ second worst performer in the review period, dropping below 7,300 points for the first time in two months. The downward push at the end of the review period uniformly affected the major sectors whose indices all entered the red. Banking, down by 0.43%, was the least affected. Market champion Zain Group shed 5.9%.
Saudi Arabia SE (One month)
Current year high: 6,894.55 Current year low: 5,407.31
> Review period: Closed: April 21 – 6,730.12 Period change: 1%
The petrochemicals sub-index had the best performance, up 3.63%, whereas energy and utilities fared worst at minus 11%. Losers outnumbered gainers and included the largest bank by market cap, Al Rajhi, which dropped 6.4%. Market-heavy manufacturers SABIC advanced half a percent. Optimistic voices on the year’s equity performances remained dominant but — except for volcanic emissions in unpronounceable Nordic locales — April, on the whole, was a steam-less month in GCC equity markets.
Muscat SM (One month)
Current year high: 6,933.75 Current year low: 5,049.03
> Review period: Closed: April 21 – 6,906.66 Period change: 3.21%
The Muscat Securities Market index close represented the best GCC performance in the review period. Poultry farming company A’Saffa Food doubled its share price as the MSM’s top gainer in April after the company undertook a 10 for one stock split at the end of March. The banking sector index led the market’s upward performance sector-wise and the banking index outperformed the general index by almost 3%. Market cap leader BankMuscat ended the review period 5.1% higher; telecommunications operator Omantel was in the balance with a 0.1% drop.
Bahrain SE (One month)
Current year high: 1,656.43 Current year low: 1,413.28
> Review period: Closed: April 21 – 1,540.52 Period change: – 0.42%
Significant fluctuations rocked the Bahrain index, which closed down 65 points from its intra-month high but still up 5.64% for the year to date. The banking index, in a rough ride, outperformed the market but the investment sector underperformed. Market cap leader Ahli United Bank was among the top gainers, up 2.94%; the scrip has appreciated 61% in the year to date. At the other end of the scale was Gulf Finance House which could not stem its price slide and closed the April 21
session 19.2% down on the month.
Doha SM (One month)
Current year high: 7,801.33 Current year low: 5,426.04
> Review period: Closed: April 21 – 7,617.62 Period change: 2.1%
The Qatar Exchange was the second best GCC performer from April 1 thru 21. The close on April 21 represented a gain of 9.5% for the year to date, almost on par with the Saudi Tadawul’s y-t-d gain of 9.9%. Like several other regional exchanges, the QSE index reached new 18-month highs in April but couldn’t sustain them. There were more gainers than losers on the QSE and Al Khaleej Insurance and Doha Insurance topped the gainers’ list with respective share price increases of 17.3% and 16.8%. Insurance was the best sector index in the review period, followed by banking.
Tunis SE (One month)
Current year high: 4,772.39 Current year low: 3,337.48
> Review period: Closed: April 21 – 4,738.92 Period change: 1.53%
The Tunindex of the Tunisian Stock Exchange stayed its course with little volatility compared with the last session in March. The index closed a five-point whisper below its year high from February 9. Insurance company Assurances Salim, which debuted on April 1, gained 42% from its issue price but any stock performance in the review period was incomparable to that of telecommunications infrastructure firm Servicom, whose price reportedly rose nine fold on a trade of three shares.
Casablanca SE (One month)
Current year high: 12,137.95 Current year low: 9,997.56
> Review period: Closed: April 21 – 12,038.45 Period change: 5.4%
The Casablanca Exchange was the number 2 upward outlier among MENA securities markets in April, with a rise of 5.4% during the review period. Dropping in the first week of the month, the MASI benchmark index rose strongly from April 12, scaling a new 17-month high with 12,137.95 on April 20. The majority of stocks showed gains, including the market heavies Maroc Telecom (up 1.26%) and Attijariwafa Bank, which ended the period 4% higher after profit taking on April 21.
Egypt CASE (One month)
Current year high: 7,591.37 Current year low: 4,953.53
> Review period: Closed: April 21 – 7,581.71 Period change: 11.4%
The Egyptian Stock Exchange raced to the top of the regional charts in the April review period, heaving the EGX 30 index to a 22.1% rally from the start of 2010. Index readings reached in mid-April have been the highest since mid September 2008. Orascom Telecom Holding, the number two by market cap on the EGX, was top dog in share price appreciation during the review period and rallied 33%. Telecom Egypt gained 8.9% and Orascom Construction, 3.3%.
