What some analysts camouflaged as “the events in North Lebanon” in the last third of May wiped out modest gains, which the BLOM index had made in the first part of the month. But owing to its resilience and apparent long breath of many investors, the index closed at 1,223.01 points on May 24, within half a point of its close on April 30. The mid-month top mark was 1,248.81 points on May 17. Solidere accounted for the bulk of trading volume in the nervous fourth week of the month but held its ground, all things considered. Main banking stocks Audi and BLOM also fared respectably, with Audi trading above $63 and BLOM at $70 and higher throughout the month. Byblos Bank confirmed that it bought 6.6% of Jordan Ahli Bank.
Beirut SE: Blom (1 month)
Current Year High: 1,550.85 Current Year Low: 1,168.36
The Amman Stock Exchange trailed its peers with a drop from 5,992.10 points on May 1 to 5,753.89 points on May 27, a 4% weakening. Although government officials and several companies used the World Economic Forum to announce investment initiatives, the ASE was listless because of the troubles in Palestine and Lebanon. Among the announced deals, Jordan Phosphate Mines teamed up with Bahrain’s Venture Capital Bank for a new $65 million chemicals complex. Kuwait Finance House-Bahrain will establish a new investment bank in Jordan with $50 million capital while Bank of Jordan got its license for Syria. According to an ASE publication, first-quarter earnings for 95 listed companies were up 50.4% from a year earlier and the banking sector reaped 65% of the total earnings.
Amman SE (1 month)
Current Year High: 6,920.89 Current Year Low: 5,267.27
The Abu Dhabi Securities Market shot up almost 600 points, or some 20%, between May 1 and May 27. This rally has lasted for two months and made the ADSM the top gainer among GCC bourses for the year to date. On May 27, the ADSM jumped 4.4% and closed at 3634.93 points, an eight-month high. Energy, real estate, and banking stocks had the most pizzazz with Taqa and Aabar Petroleum among the stocks in demand. The two energy stocks went up 33% and 37%, respectively, in May but were still outdone by real estate stocks Aldar and Sorouh, which climbed 45% and 53%. Fujairah National Insurance made its debut. At the end of the month, ADSM and the Bahrain Stock Exchange signed a memorandum of understanding.
Abu Dhabi SM (1 month)
Current Year High: 3,833.94 Current Year Low: 2,839.16
The Dubai Financial Market’s general index rose from 3,670.47 points on May 1 to 4,480.80 points on May 27. The gain of more than 20% mirrored that of the ADSM this month, but due to the DFM, ended the reporting period only 6.9% up for the year to date. Dubai saw the UAE’s second largest initial public offering for 2007, from real estate firm Deyaar. Retail investors pushed demand up to over $12 billion, or 14 times the $880 million share offering. Good performers on the DFM included Dubai Islamic Bank (up 31%), and the DFM stock (up 20%) in May. Emaar Properties closed at AED12.35 on May 27. The UAE market regulator noted approvingly that for the first time, all listed companies met their results reporting deadlines for the first quarter.
Dubai FM (1 month)
Current Year High: 4,985.39 Current Year Low: 3,658.13
The Kuwait Stock Exchange ranked second among GCC bourses in 2007 index performance at the end of May, with a 13.27% increase for the year to date. Achieving its climb more steadily than the meteoric Abu Dhabi exchange, the KSE index moved from 10,776.40 points on May 1 to 11.403.40 points on May 27 – its highest stand since end of February 2006. Shares of MTC were in the limelight with rumors of strategic share buying by regional investors. The company formally denied that there was any buying or selling of strategic stakes in MTC or its African subsidiary, Celtel. Kuwait Finance House saw good demand and its shares went up 30% in May. In macro news, Kuwait stirred up the GCC by announcing its switch from a dollar peg to a basket of currencies, which was read as nay to the intended GCC currency union.
Kuwait SE (1 month)
Current Year High: 11,403.40 Current Year Low: 9,164.30
The Saudi Stock Exchange remained volatile compared to its peers. From 7,574.48 points on May 1, the TASI moved lower in the first week and closed at 7,667.92 points on May 27. Sabic made headlines by purchasing the plastics business of US manufacturer GE for $11.6 billion. Saudi Kayan Petrochemicals, a Sabic affiliate, was the biggest IPO catch last month with a SR6.75 billion offering that was subscribed almost five times over. A bundle of five insurance firms offered between 31% and 40% of their capital and met good demand. The cement sector was the strongest gainer in the third week of May, after producers hiked their prices. Although the government mandated revocation of the price increases after a week, the companies’ outlook remains good. Agriculture was the most volatile sector in May.
Saudi Arabia SE (1 month)
Current Year High: 13,509.09 Current Year Low: 6,916.85
The Muscat Securities Market showed further bullish sentiments in May and climbed from 5,807.53 points on May 1 to 6,092.65 points on May 27, giving the MSM a 6.7% gain since the start of 2007. BankMuscat continued to push for negotiations over an acquisition offer it made for Alliance Housing Bank (AHB), a bank with market capitalization of $205 million. The AHB board rejected the offer by BankMuscat, Oman’s largest bank with $2.95 billion market cap, citing other regional suitors. BankMuscat offered a 34% premium on the share price of AHB as of early May and the stock has since gone up by about one third. Oman United Insurance Company and privately owned Al Ahlia Insurance, however, called off a merger plan.
Muscat SM (1 month)
Current Year High: 5,956.46 Current Year Low: 4,657.16
The Bahrain Stock Exchange was the fourth GCC bourse with a steep ascent during the merry month of May. In a 9% gain, its index rose from 2106.70 points on April 30 to 2,298.67 points on May 27 – making good for losses in the first four months of the year and ending the month on a high note. The kingdom had its share in the month’s primary market glee through the successful initial public offering of Seef Properties, which met strong subscription demand from institutional investors. After announcing management changes and expansion plans, shares in Batelco moved up in May but the Bahraini operator denied rumors that it was talking with an international sector firm over selling it a 20% stake.
Bahrain SE (1 month)
Current Year High: 2,298.67 Current Year Low: 1,996.68
Continuing on its upward path from April, the Doha Securities Market took May in stride with an 18% gain from 6571.13 points at the start of the month to 7,749.37 points on May 27. With the concentration of gains in the second half of the month, the market’s main movers included Barwa Real Estate, Nakilat, Industries Qatar, and banking shares, including Doha, Rayyan, and International Islamic banks which all advanced by margins of more than 20%. Some investors cashed in on gains with profit taking at the end of the month. Barwa Real Estate made news with a $1.1 billion Egyptian land purchase for a new super-sized residential project in New Cairo. Qatar Islamic Bank said it will set up a sharia-compliant subsidiary in London.
Doha SM: Qatar (1 month)
Current Year High: 8,276.65 Current Year Low: 5,825.80
After a third consecutive month of moving sideways, the Tunindex closed at 2,568.90 points on May 25, down 30 points from its close on April 30. This made the small Tunisian bourse the month’s most unspectacular performer among the three North African exchanges but kept it up by 9.68% when compared with the start of the year. Market cap leader SFBT saw its stock drop by 4% to TD79.98, while Banque de Tunisie lost 3% and Tunisair share prices weakened by 7% between May 1 and May 25.
Tunis SE (1 month)
Current Year High: 2,712.33 Current Year Low: 1,861.15
The Casablanca All Shares Index started the month with a week of gains to a pinnacle of 12,723.23 points on May 8 but then selling set in and the index shed 14% in a week’s trading that saw it briefly dip below 11,000 points on May 15. To the end of the month, the index picked up another 500 points and closed at 11,464.60 on May 25. Despite its downward fluctuation, the Moroccan bourse is still the best performer, index-wise, in North Africa for the year to date, with a gain of 19.4% from the start of 2007. Maroc Telecom dropped 10% and leading bank Attijariwafa Bank shed 18% of its market value in the middle of the month in the downtrend that showed across several sectors before the bourse’s slight recovery in the fourth week of May. Local brokers described the market’s dip as expectable profit taking.
Casablanca SE All Shares (1 month)
Current Year High: 12,723.23 Current Year Low: 6,563.27
The Hermes index for the Cairo & Alexandria Exchanges was 9.39% up for the year on May 27. Entering the month at 65,582.80 points, the index climbed to 68,274.93 points on May 27. Analysts were less ebullient about CASE than about the GCC markets last month but said that telecom and banking shares did reasonably well, the latter with expectations that several regional banks will compete to buy a significant stake in Al Watany Bank. Piraeus Bank Egypt launched a $53 million rights issue. Sodic, the real estate investment company that signed an urban development contract for Sodic land with Lebanon’s Solidere, had to acknowledge that merger talks with another company failed. Sodic’s stock dropped 13% in May.
Cairo SE: Hermes (1 month)
Current Year High: 68,274.93 Current Year Low: 41,965.37
