ADX dips for fifth trading session

Abu Dhabi stocks on Monday finished lower for a fifth consecutive day of trading, dragged down by lower oil prices and a sell-off in banking shares.

Brent crude futures opened the week lower, falling below US$51 per barrel before recovering to $51.31 late in the afternoon.

Dubai shares finished in positive territory following gains by DIB, while Saudi stocks also rose.

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index closed 1.2 per cent lower at 4,382.32, taking losses for the past five sessions to just under 5 per cent.

“There is an overall weakness in the market that is driving stocks lower, mainly due to the drop in oil prices for the past week,” said Ali Adou, a fund manager at The National Investor in Abu Dhabi.

“We’ve also seen both retail and institutional investors exit FGB now that the stock has gone ex-dividend, and ahead of the share swap with NBAD.”

FGB shares closed 3.6 per cent lower at Dh12.05, while NBAD shares finished 2 per cent lower.

Eshraq Properties led gains, rising 3.5 per cent to Dh1.18.

Shares in Dubai traded within a narrow range for much of the day, before closing up 0.6 per cent at 3,501.18 owing to a late surge by DIB.

Dubai Investments shares recovered ground after losing 9 per cent of their value over the previous six trading sessions, closing up 2.6 per cent on Monday at Dh2.38.

Shares in GFH rose to their highest level in about six years, up 7 per cent to Dh2.75, after the Bahraini investment firm announced it would discuss “new strategy and acquisition transactions” at its board meeting on Thursday.

Follow The National's Business section on Twitter