The Beirut Stock Exchange passed through a valley but the BSI closed at 1,209.84 points on April 27, barely seven points lower than on April 2. While the trading floor did not differ from the rest of the country in spending another month waiting for that political thaw, listed companies made some news worth looking at. Solidere sent executives to Egypt for talks with Sixth of October Development & Investment Co. The two companies said in mid April they shortly will sign a contract for developing urban centers in two Sodic properties. Solidere stock nonetheless was under downward pressure in April and traded below $15.25 in the latter part of the month. Banks Audi and Blom announced cash dividends and Bemo announced the listing of 200,000 preferred shares.
Beirut SE: Blom (1 month)
Current Year High: 1,598.29 Current Year Low: 1,168.36
The Amman Stock Exchange in April fell back from gains earlier in the year and played to the tune of subdued expectations. The ASE Index returned to the 6,000 points range and closed at 5,969.65 points on April 26. Jordan Telecom Group dropped by about 10% in late April after dividend distribution. According to a report by Al Hayat in early April, the stake of BankMed in Arab Bank has increased to 18%, making the Hariri family’s BankMed the largest shareholder in Arab Bank. In an attempt to stimulate liquidity, the Jordan Securities Commission allowed brokers to carry out margin buys on two additional companies in the primary and 11 firms in the secondary market.
Amman SE (1 month)
Current Year High: 7,407.15 Current Year Low: 5,267.27
The Abu Dhabi Securities Market entered April by ending a negative trend it had experienced in March with a year-low of 2,839.16 points on April 3 and started moving up again. It closed at 3,066.6 pts on April 26. Shares of Gulf Cement and Union Cement each soared in April with double-digit percentage gains whereas Fujairah Cement saw strong fluctuations. National Bank of Abu Dhabi also gained strongly for most of the month, before dropping somewhat after disclosing 4.7% lower first-quarter profits. Another notable advancer was Aldar Properties. Investor behavior on the ADSM in late April also included repositioning in preparation for the Deyaar IPO on the DFM.
Abu Dhabi SM (1 month)
Current Year High: 3,833.94 Current Year Low: 2,839.16
The Dubai Financial Market moved mostly sideways in April, closing 98 points higher at 3,812.10 pts on April 26 when compared with 3,714.20 pts on April 1. The big announcement for the month was the $883 million initial public offering by Deyaar, the real estate arm of Dubai Islamic Bank. Investors repositioned themselves to participate in the May subscription for Deyaar. With high volumes in their second month of trading, the DFM’s own shares swung up by almost 50% between April 1 and 22 before losing over half their gains by April 26. A review of alleged past share price manipulations by Shuaa Capital in a Kuwaiti deal brought no evidence of wrongdoing, the Emirates Securities and Commodities Authority said after inquiries with the KSE.
Dubai FM (1 month)
Current Year High: 5,488.24 Current Year Low: 3,658.13
The Kuwait Stock Exchange was the shining star among the GCC bourses with the most consistent positive performance for the month. The index headed into April after a bit of late-March profit taking at 10,108.7 points and moved up 600 points, or 5.9%, to a 10,710.4 points close on April 25. A number of stocks recorded noteworthy gains but as far as market movers, the month was again in the grip of MTC. The telco had a volume of 532 million traded shares on a single day—two thirds of the day’s total KSE volume—and rose twice by the allowed daily max toward the end of the month. Speculation in the stock rode on expectations that a major block purchase of MTC is in the making.
Kuwait SE (1 month)
Current Year High: 10,710.40 Current Year Low: 9,164.30
The Saudi Stock Exchange was quite the opposite number to the New York Stock Exchange last month, but only in the mathematical way that where the Dow raced up, the SSE struck out. The rally of the previous month expired on March 25 at 8,620.1 points and, under inclusion of some spectacular one-day drops, the Tadawul Index moved south from there to 7,273.34 points on April 25. Analysts blamed disappointing first-quarter corporate results for the slide that put the SSE back on bearish ground. In a step to give the SSE more worldwide exposure, the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation said it plans to include the SSE in its Global Composite Index very soon.
Saudi Arabia SE (1 month)
Current Year High: 17,730.96 Current Year Low: 6,916.85
The Muscat Securities Market had the year’s best month so far in April, achieving an increase in its index from 5556.12 points on April 1 to an intermediate peak of 5,918.89 points on April 18 before slowing to 5,848.56 pts on April 26. Oman’s listed companies achieved a combined net profit of $964 million in 2006, up 19.5% from $807 million in 2005, the MSM announced in April. BankMuscat, the sultanate’s largest bank, reported a gain of 44% in its first-quarter net profits for 2007, to $50 million. The bank’s share price improved by 8% in the course of April, while Oman Air, which reversed losses in Q1 2006 to a profit in the first quarter of 2007, advanced by 15% in the same period.
Muscat SM (1 month)
Current Year High: 5,956.46 Current Year Low: 4,657.16
The Bahrain Stock Exchange Index sled 50 points between April 1 and 19 before a slight rebound, closing at 2,116.34 points on April 26. The BSE’s index drop of 4.5% since Jan 1 positions the bourse in fifth place out of the seven GCC exchanges for performance, with less fluctuation than most of its cousins. Gulf Finance House moved up temporarily ahead of presenting a new strategic plan. Investment company Esterad weakened throughout April and the drop accelerated after the company announced 43% lower net profit for the first quarter. The Bahraini government, seeking to invigorate the country’s stock market and encourage wider share ownership, launched an initial public offering for 48% of state-owned real estate firm Seef Properties, starting April 26. The offer was sweetened for retail investors through a 12% price discount and 50% deferred payment.
Bahrain SE (1 month)
Current Year High: 2,251.15 Current Year Low: 1,996.6
The Doha Securities Market is still the region’s most suppressed achiever for 2007 to date, standing 9.67% lower on April 26 compared with the index values on Jan 1. But different to the Saudi Stock Exchange and some of its other neighbors, the DSM moved up last month, by almost 7%, to close at 6,443.48 points on April 26. Nakilat, among the month’s volume leaders, made modest gains in the first half of April but weakened again slightly after announcing 20% higher first-quarter results. Real estate company Barwa made some gains at the end of the month on exceptional first-quarter profits and made news by buying a Paris convention center for $522 million.
Doha SM: Qatar (1 month)
Current Year High: 9,142.45 Current Year Low: 5,825.80
The Tunisian bourse traded sideways, with the Tunindex fluctuating in the 2,600 points range. The index closed at 2,588.20 points on April 26, some 125 points below the historic high it reached on Feb. 9. The share price of chemicals manufacturer ICF added 16%. Somocer, Tunisia’s largest producer of ceramic tiles, was a loser on the Tunisian stock market in April with a 22% drop. Banque de Tunisie, the largest bank on the bourse, traded sideways.
Tunis SE (1 month)
Current Year High: 2,712.33 Current Year Low: 1,880.55
One has to wonder if growth in Casablanca is unstoppable as long as local investors face restraints from placing their wealth in other markets. The Casa All Shares Index moved up 779 points in April to a close at a new year high of 12,276.81 pts on April 27. The market thus was up 29.59% since the start of 2007. Leading bank Attijariwafa Bank gained 20% in April. Shares in LGMC Industries, a canned fish producer, moved up 44% between April 12 and 27. A major new privatization measure bypassed the bourse when the Moroccan government sold its maritime transport firm Comanav on March 30 directly to privately-held French shipping group CMA CGM for $267 million.
Casablanca SE All Shares (1 month)
Current Year High: 12,273.26 Current Year Low: 6,563.27
With the North African bourses doing better than the GCC exchanges, the Cairo and Alexandria Exchanges showed decent development in April. The Hermes Index reached a new high for the year at 65,735.76 points on April 17 and closed with upward sentiment at 65,589.25 pts on April 26. Orascom group companies were among the attention getters for the month. Orascom Construction was the best performer among the Orascom siblings, climbing almost 15% in the course of April. Orascom Telecom Holding implemented a 5-for-1 stock split on April 12 and was labeled “strong buy” by analysts. Telecoms firm TE also got a recommendation upgrade to “outperform.” Shares of National Bank for Development crashed from steep heights after the Egyptian government declined to sell its stake to a UAE banking group.
Cairo SE: Hermes (1 month)
Current Year High: 65,735.76 Current Year Low: 41,965.37
