Abu Dhabi banking shares rise ahead of anticipated results

Markets Update: Banking stocks pushed the capital's stock market higher as investors await first quarter results - with video.

Abu Dhabi's heavyweight banks led the momentum in the capital as anticipation that first quarter earnings will be positive helped drive the market.

National Bank of Abu Dhabi, the UAE's second largest lender by assets, was the top gainer in the capital and rose 2.63 per cent to Dh11.7.

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank rose 1.96 per cent to Dh3.12, First Gulf Bank advanced 2.2 per cent to Dh16.2 though Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank slipped nearly 1.6 per cent to Dh2.38.

Fund managers said a trickle of first quarter results expected in the next few weeks should offer a positive catalyst to regional markets.

"The market has been starved of good news so this will push everyone to jump on the bandwagon," Shehzad Janab, head of asset management and advisory at Daman Investments in Dubai.

He said the focus was particularly on the banking sector as lower provisions are expected to translate into better first quarter earnings.

Banking stocks account for a large proportion of most regional markets. In Abu Dhabi, banks account for nearly 40 per cent of the market and around 30 per cent in Dubai.

"Given their market weighting, they are an important sector for investors," he said.

The capital's index, the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index, edged 0.6 per cent higher to 2,617.97 points and Dubai's stock market sipped 0.4 per cent to 1,504.41 points.

Elsewhere in the region, Qatar's QE Index edged half a per cent higher, Oman's measure increase 0.2 per cent and Bahrain's bourse rose marginally by 0.05 per cent to 1,392.49 points.