It was a day of gains for the UAE benchmark equity indices but the upside was certainly limited. The FADGI added 0.16% whilst the DFMGI gained 0.1% and even if they do appear to be modest moves, it underlines a tone of constant progression.
- Americana Restaurants +5.3%
- Du +4.4%
- Rakbank -3.4%
Americana Restaurants saw a good session on Wednesday with the franchise dining brand operator advancing by more than 5%. The stock has been struggling for some time, having sold off by more than 50% since the September 2023 highs. A consumer and investor backlash to the Israeli-Palestine conflict has been attributed to the move and with hopes surging that a truce is in sight, some are clearly seeing value at these levels.
Telecoms operator Du also had a good day, up 4.4%. There’s no news here and volumes were unremarkable, but we did see an elevated level of trade on Tuesday so that may have taken out something of an overhang. The dividend yield here has been flagged as appealing, too.
Rakbank was the biggest faller amongst the large caps, down 3.4% on the day. There’s no news here but the move does come off the back of some meaningful gains for the share price over the last few months. Yesterday’s record high closing price may have flushed out some bargain hunters.