Abu Dhabi's benchmark rose yesterday, boosted by Aldar and Sorouh Real Estate, amid investor speculation that a merger was likely.
Aldar, the developer of Yas Island, rose 1.5 per cent to Dh1.35. Sorouh, which built the Sun & Sky Towers on Reem Island, jumped 1.6 per cent to Dh1.27.
The two companies traded 54.9 million shares, compared with 90.9 million shares for the overall market.
"There is a rumour the merger will be effective January," said Nabil Farhat, a partner at Al Fajer Securities in Abu Dhabi told Bloomberg. A decision is expected to be made "at the end of this month", Aldar's deputy chief executive, Mohammed Al Mubarak, said on October 1.
The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index rose 1.3 per cent, helping the overall benchmark gain 0.08 per cent to 2,643.95 points. By contrast, trading was lukewarm on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM). Emaar Properties, which developed the Burj Khalifa, gained 0.5 per cent to Dh3.68. Arabtec Holding a contracting company, was unchanged at Dh2.60.
Stocks were sensitive to "regional volatility" in Saudi Arabia's market and elsewhere, said Marwan Shurrab, the vice president and chief trader at the asset manager Gulfmena Investments. The DFM General Index added 0.6 per cent to 1,635.63.
Elsewhere in the region: Kuwait's measure added 0.2 per cent to 5,997.07; Bahrain's index slipped 0.2 per cent to 1066.83; Oman's MSM 30 Index added 0.4 per cent to 5663.49; Qatar's QE Index added 0.4 per cent to 8,522.91.
[ halsayegh@thenational.ae ]
