Gulf Navigation steers up

Dubai's Gulf Navigation was the top traded stock yesterday amid investor bets that the emirate's only publicly traded tanker owner will benefit from higher oil prices.

Gulf rose 1.8 per cent to 28 fils on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM). Investors traded 31.9 million shares yesterday, compared with 163 million shares for the overall market.

On Monday Brent crude traded at the highest premium in a year, at US$23.94 compared with West Texas Intermediate after the European Union strengthened its sanctions on Iran, Bloomberg reported.

Gulf will hold its board of directors meeting to discuss third-quarter results tomorrow at its head office, it said in a statement to the Dubai bourse yesterday.

"Gulf Navigation is undervalued and oversold," said Wadah Al Taha, the chief investment officer at Dubai's Al Zarooni Group.

"It has assets and real operations, unwarranted to be trading at these levels.

"Good pick for medium and long-term investors."

The DFM General Index gained 0.6 per cent to 1,646.03 points, while the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index added 0.1 per cent to 2,647.31.

Elsewhere in the region: Kuwait's measure lost 0.8 per cent to 5,945.26; Bahrain's index was little changed, up 0.01 per cent, to 1,066.89; Oman's MSM 30 Index added 0.5 per cent to 5,695.75; Qatar's QE Index gained 0.4 per cent to 8,558.12.

The Saudi Tadawul All-Share Index rose 0.38 per cent to 6,749.00.

halsayegh@thenational.ae