By: Bedour Al Raee
Abu Dhabi – Mubasher: The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange’s (ADX) general index gained 46.29 points, or 0.94%, to close at 4,983.98 points on Tuesday, its highest level in four years.
The market’s positive performance was the result of the announcement of a planned merger between three Abu Dhabi-based lenders, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB), Union National Bank (UNB), and the privately-owned Al Hilal Bank.
The ADX’s trading volume hit 59.95 million shares, while the market’s liquidity reached AED 178.753 million.
The merger between those three major banks is expected to succeed, Wadah Al-Taha, member of the National Advisory Board of Chartered Institute for Securities &Investments (CISI), commented.
The UAE banking sector may also see another merger in the coming period, he added.
ADCB, surged 12.83%, acquired 46.33% of the ADX’s liquidity on Tuesday, with a turnover of AED 82.82 million and 10.27 million traded shares.
UNB soared 14.77%, while the banks sector gained 1.41%.
The energy sector rose 1.98% after Taqa increased by 6.31% and Dana Gas went up 1.8%.
The telecommunication sector and its only stock, Etisalat, added 0.24% each.
On the other hand, the real estate sector declined 0.91%, as Aldar Properties decreased by 1.03%.
The consumer staples sector sank 1.58% after Asmak dropped 4.03%.
Market capitalisation gained AED 6.51 billion, amounting to AED 497.159 billion.
Translated by: Muhammad Khalid
