Renewed US recession fears saw most Asian markets sell off hard during Wednesday’s session although losses in the UAE were significantly more modest, with the Dubai and Abu Dhabi benchmark equity indices each dropping by less than 0.2%.
- Commercial Bank of Dubai +6.2%
- Agthia +1.5%
- NMDC -4.7%
The Commercial Bank of Dubai was the biggest gainer amongst large cap stocks on Wednesday, advancing by 6.2%. Significantly greater than average volumes were reported as being traded by the exchange with more than 235,000 shares changing hands, the highest level in almost three months.
Agthia was another notable amongst the large caps, with gains of 1.5% being reported. However there’s nothing to report here, volumes are typical and the uptick today simply reverses the losses posted on Tuesday.
NMDC – the new name for the National Marine Dredging Company – is again on the radar, giving back a further 4.7%. The company is currently in the process of spinning out part of its energy business and whilst the initial reaction to regulatory approvals here at the end of last week was positive, profit taking has been in evidence. The offer period was due to close today, with media reports suggesting the deal was 14 times oversubscribed, somewhat less than has been seen with other recent IPOs.
