Beirut SE (one month)
Current Year High: 1,629.74 Current Year Low: 705.56
The Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE), like the country, is being marinated in election oil and masses of political spices. Global markets add their bits to support the notion of wait and see, which has been valid for such a long time and reported on so often that it almost appears to be part of the BSE’s DNA by now. In monthly figures, the Blom Stock Index (BSI) read 1084.9 points at market close on April 24, representing a gain of 29 points versus the last close in March. Market cap leader Solidere traded sideways in the $15 range throughout April. Banks Audi and BoB announced that they will disburse cash dividends for 2008, reflecting the solid earnings positions of the Lebanese banking sector.
Amman SE (one month)
Current Year High: 5,043.72 Current Year Low: 2,550.70
The Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) Index closed at 2,803.33 points on April 26, up 3.51 percent on the month and continuing a steady upward trend that began at the end of February. Aided by gains in the banking sector (6.5 percent up on the month), the ASE index traversed into positive territory for 2009 — first on April 5 and then again on April 19, keeping its nose above water in the subsequent sessions through April 26. Despite the good showing of banking stocks this month, the services and insurance sub-indices are still the outperformers for the year to date. Market cap leader Arab Bank, trading ex-dividend, zig-zagged in the $16.20–$17.65 range throughout the review period. Arab Potash Company, number two by market cap, traded down towards the end of April after announcing 70 percent cash dividend effective Apr 19. The company announced a 22 percent year-on-year increase in its Q1 2009 profits, to $50 million.
Abu Dhabi SM (one month)
Current Year High: 5,148.49 Current Year Low: 2,136.64
Closing at 2543.41 points on April 26, the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange had to take second place to its peer in Dubai for monthly increases — but the 2.2 percent gains in April by the ADX and relatively small lag behind the DFM is less something to report on than the fact that the ADX came in sixth out of seven GCC exchanges in our review period. Telecoms and insurance sector indices ended the period in the red. Banking, construction, consumer, and industry all recorded gains but all were outdone by the real estate sector, whose sector index ended the review period 30.3 percent higher. Aldar, RAK Properties, and Sorouh appreciated by 37.2, 28.6, and 22.1 percent, respectively. Whereas energy firm Taqa weakened 3.5 percent, the Dana Gas stock emerged as the period’s strongest performer, increasing 44.9 percent over the period. However, on the year to date, for which the ADX Index barely was positive by April 26, Taqa is still Abu Dhabi’s strongest gainer whereas Aldar and Sorouh still need to regain a lot of ground in order to turn green.
Dubai FM (one month)
Current Year High: 5,859.57 Current Year Low: 1,433.14
The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) closed at 1,638.15 points on April 26, a friendly 4.44 percent higher than it stood at the end of March. Stocks in the utilities, real estate, and telecom sectors led the market up. The index was as much as 11.2 percent up intra-month but investors harvested cash gains in the latter part of the month. For an attention grabber, shareholders in Shuaa Capital had to confirm that they wanted to keep the company open after loss figures triggered a clause in the DSM rules. They unsurprisingly did so. Equity augurs are meanwhile haranguing about the likelihood of further equity downturns, adding as latest fodder for worries the swine flu panic which could be a viral contagion negatively affecting global markets in general and trade and vacation hubs in particular. The fact that consumption of pork is not the cause of the disease cannot be a comfort, because a problem related to pork consumption would be the easiest to remedy in the GCC. So concerns loom about what impact the human-spread virus will have on the stocks of airlines, hotels and tourism-related developers.
Kuwait SE (one month)
Current Year High: 15,654.80 Current Year Low: 6,391.50
The Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) reported an index reading of 7,479.30 on April 26, representing a gain of 10.9 percent on the month. The best sectors were real estate and industrial, which outperformed the general index by 6 and 3.5 percentage points, respectively. IFA Kuwait, an investment company, and developer, Munshaat Real Estate Project Co, were the top gainers on the KSE in the review period. The former saw its share price more than double and the latter achieved a price gain of 83.3 percent. The KSE has been able to lift the downtrend that had it under its thumb in the first two months in 2009 but the market is still faced with a lot of uncertainty, partly home-spun. The country is waiting for elections on May 16, but one party has already announced a boycott and it is not at all sure that the elections will restore political decision making powers to what is needed for improving the economy in a sustainable way. Market discipline is also still to be improved, as the KSE underscored by suspending three dozen companies for failure to meet disclosure deadlines.
Saudi Arabia SE (one month)
Current Year High: 10,089.52 Current Year Low: 4,130.01
Including a three-day dip of profit booking, the Saudi Stock Exchange’s TASI experienced a 15.7 percent gain over the review period to close at 5,440.30 points on April 26. Energy and utilities were the sole sub-index that stayed in the red; most sectors didn’t stray far from the seasonal formula of optimism. However, insurance did stray into exuberance with a sector index gain of over 39 percent in merely 19 trading days. No wonder that insurance stocks occupied all the top spots in the gainers’ list: Sanad, Arabia, Saudi ACIG, Salama, and SABB Takaful were the leaders with gains ranging from 51 percent (SABB Takaful and Salama) to a phenomenal 142.7 percent for Sanad. Biggest underperformer was Al Ahsa Development Company which reported a $1.68 million loss for the first quarter and whose share price slumped 14.7 percent. The ratio of gainers to losers was very positive as only 11 stocks moved lower in April. SABIC, avidly watched by analysts in this period, reported a 50 percent drop in gross revenues and its first quarterly net loss since 2001 for Q1, 2009, but the stock gained 14.6 percent during the review period.
Muscat SM (one month)
Current Year High: 12,109.10 Current Year Low: 4,223.63
The Muscat Securities Market (MSM) may have the prettiest acronym of all GCC stock exchanges, but its performance in April was nonetheless a marvel in its own right. Closing at 5,252.47 points on April 26, the MSM advanced 13.5 percent when compared with the last close in March and leapt a big step towards recouping its losses from early in 2009. Industry led the market up as services and banking came along nicely. Al Hassan Engineering and Oman Flour Mills were the top performers in the review period, each gaining more than 80 percent. Gulf Stone Compay and Salalah Mills Co — a food sector co like Oman Flour Mills — inversely were situated at the other extreme of the market and saw their share prices melt down by 92.3 and 88.9 percent, respectively. Market cap heavyweight Omantel was notably weaker, ending the period 18.2 percent down.
Bahrain SE (one month)
Current Year High: 2,902.68 Current Year Low: 1,572.19
The Bahraini bourse (BSE) went through a bulge of gains in the middle of April but the risk appetite of investors quickly proved subservient to their desire to book profits, and the BSE general index closed at 1,580.22 points on April 26, a shade under one percent down when compared with the start of the month. Banking stocks were the drivers of the upward movement in the middle of the month and outperformed the general index with a six percent gain in the review period. The industrial and insurance sectors were rather inactive in April while the investment sub-index underperformed the market. Esterad Investment was the best gainer on the BSE in the review period – the company, which affirmed 15 percent cash dividend at the end of March, moved up 34.6 percent in a phase of trading ex-dividend. Gulf Finance House, which had slumped to historic lows in January and February, was the BSE’s second-best gainer, adding 32.3 percent. In a merger and acquisition deal, Salam Bank-Bahrain formally submitted an offer for Bahrain Saudi Bank. The merged entity would have eight retail branches in Bahrain.
Doha SM (one month)
Current Year High: 12,627.32 Current Year Low: 4,230.19
A close at 5,424.23 points on April 26 gave the Doha Securities Market (DSM) a promising gain of 10.9 percent for the period since the start of the month but the DSM is still down 21 percent from the last trading session in 2008. This means the DSM is still the year’s biggest underperformer in regional terms, trailing the Saudi bourse at the top by 35 percentage points and lagging behind the second-worst loser, the Bahrain Stock Exchange, by more than eight percentage points. Services were the DSM’s best gaining sector in April, advancing 16.8 percent and followed by banking, up 10.21 percent. All four sector indices on the DSM were higher in April and all but three stocks ended the month unchanged or higher. The strongest loser was Ahli Bank whose 26.5 percent drop wiped out sudden gains made by the stock during a short period in March. The insurance sector visibly underperformed the general index but insurance companies released surprisingly positive results for the first quarter of 2009. Intermittent profit taking influenced the market during the review period.
Tunis SE (one month)
Current Year High: 3,418.13 Current Year Low: 2,836.64
The Tunindex closed at 3,321.58 points on Apr 24. This represents a gain of 7.42 percent since the start of April, which constitutes a significant upturn in the market’s ascending trajectory that has persisted for four months and certifies the Tunisian Stock Exchange as a veritable maverick, or young bull, in international comparison for the year-to-date. Share price developments since the beginning of 2009 are in the green for all sectors on the TSE, with the sole exception of the building and construction materials sector which is down a fraction of one percent ytd. Insurer STAR was the best performer in April with a 31.7 percent gain. Adding 21.4 percent, Banque de Tunisie had a notably strong price performance and ended the review period in top position for market capital, passing the Poulina Group whose shares also rose but at a lower rate (6.8 percent).
Casablanca SE (one month)
Current Year High: 14,631.53 Current Year Low: 9,405.86
The Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) again changed direction, this time back north. After losses in March, the Casa All Shares Index close at 10,967.65 on April 24 represented a gain of 5.44 percent since the start of April. The CSE is still marginally down on the year to date but is the region’s most expensive exchange in terms of price to earnings, ending the review period at a P/E of 17.37x according to Zawya. Silver miner SMI topped the list of gainers with 26.8 percent and is now quite an outlier in terms of P/E with 41.13x. Runner up in the gainers was real estate firm, Groupe Addoha, with 20.5 percent. The weakest performers on the CSE in April were car distributor, Auto Nejma, and agro-industry firm, LGMC, losing 11.3 and 11 percent, respectively. Market cap heavyweight, Maroc Telecom, had a positive month, gaining 5.3 percent.
Egypt CASE (one month)
Current Year High: 11,935.67 Current Year Low: 3,389.31
The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) was an example for the elusive green shoots that the tillers of the global economy have so emphatically been discussing in recent weeks. Gaining 21 percent since the start of April, the EGX benchmark index is now up 10.4 percent on the year to date and seems to have distanced itself from the sentiment of total gloom that permeated the opinions of EGX market watchers in the first two months of 2009. Best price performers were two mid-sized stocks, conglomerate Lakah Group (96.8 percent) and real estate developers EHDR (87.7 percent). Numerous large cap companies could add handsomely to market valuations of their shares, including financial, telecoms and real estate sector companies. The Orascom cousins, OTH and OCI, in the middle field of ascenders this month, gained 16 and 11.1 percent, respectively. A new index tool, the EGX 70, is now in its second month of operation. The index, which tracks the bourse’s second tier of 70 most active stocks (after the volume leaders in the EGX 30) increased slightly over 9 percent in April.
