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All GCC stock markets gained in during August 2020 with gains across most sectors. The S&P GCC total return index registered an aggregate monthly gain of 6.2 percent, a new report by Kamco Invest said.
UAE
In terms of country performance, UAE benchmarks recorded the biggest gains in August with Dubai Financial Market General Index (DFMGI) rising 9.5 percent while Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) Index added 5 percent.
The DFMGI closed at 2245.29 points, and barring Consumer Staples & Discretionary, sectoral performance was positive.
The financials pack came in with strong performances for the month, as Banks (+13.7 percent), Insurance (+9.1 percent) and Investment & Financial Services (7.3 percent) led all other sectors. Real Estate & Construction names also moved up by 6.6 percent m-o-m, as the Emaar group of companies did well. The Transportation index went up by 6.04 percent month-on-month (m-o-m).
Volumes traded on DFM increased by 26.2 percent m-o-m to reach 6.75 billion shares. The total value of shares traded increased 57.5 percent m-o-m to reach 7.1 billion dirhams.
In Abu Dhabi, the index closed at 4519.32 points as most sectors gained. The Real Estate sector gained the most, up 16.4 percent m-o-m. Investment & Financial Services had gains of 15.8 percent m-o-m. Industrials (+11.4 percent) and Consumer Staples (+10.1 percent) and Banks (+5.2 percent) all gained. Telecom however closed with 0.5 percent decline m-o-m.
Volumes traded on the exchange rose 72.3 percent to 2.01 billion shares. Value traded jumped by 137.4 percent m-om to reach 6.1 billion dirhams.
Saudi Arabia
The Tadawul TASI gained 6.5 percent in August--the biggest monthly gain in four months--backed by a broad-based recovery across sectors. The Media index topped the monthly performance chart with a gain of 23.7 percent followed by Consumer Durables & Apparel and Software & Services indices with gains of 15.2 percent and 14.1 percent, respectively.
Large-cap sectors like Banks and Energy witnessed returns of 8.2 percent and 7.6 percent, respectively, whereas the Materials benchmark rose 4.9 percent.
Total volume traded during the month increased by 18.3 percent to 6.7 billion shares. Value traded also jumped 35 percent to 150.3 million Saudi riyals.
The Tadawul launched the derivatives market towards the end of the month and introduced its first exchange traded derivatives product called MT30 Index Futures, an index futures contract based on the MSCI Tadawul 30 Index (MT30).
The exchange also launched a clearing house, The Securities Clearing Center Company (Muqassa), both as part of the Kingdom’s Saudi Vision 2030 plan.
Kuwait
After seeing the biggest monthly decline in the GCC during July-2020, Borsa Kuwait benchmarks bounced back during August with gains primarily centered around large-cap stocks. The Premier Market Index gaining 8.1 percent during the month as 15 out of 19 constituents of the index gained. Gains in the Main 50 and Main Market Indices were more modest at 3.3 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively, resulting in a gain of 6.6 percent for the All Share index.
Shares of all the Kuwaiti banks gained during the month, with the exception of CBK which closed flat. In the Telecom sector, shares of all the constituents gained except for AAN Digital Services.
The Consumer Goods index, up 9.9 percent, gained the most over the month.
Banking sector index was next with a gain of 9.7 percent while Technology and Telecom indices followed with gains of 6.7 percent and 6.0 percent, respectively
Volume traded rose 46.6 percent to reach 3.8 billion shares while the value of shares traded gained by 30.7 percent to reach 691 million Kuwaiti dinar.
Bahrain
The Bahrain Bourse gained by 7.0 percent m-o-m in Aug-2020. The index closed at 1380.89 points, but sectoral performance was mixed. Industrials was the best performing index with gains of 19.4 percent m-o-m, followed by Commercial Banks that moved up by 10.1 percent m-o-m. However, Insurance and Hotels & Tourism indices fell, albeit marginally, with declines of 1.1 percent and 0.4 percent m-o-m.
Trading activity however was mixed, as volumes declined by 12.2 percent m-o-m to reach 96.2 million shares. Value traded improved by 35 percent m-o-m and reached 16.6 million Bahraini dinars.
Oman
The Muscat Securities Market witnessed gains for the second consecutive month in August. The MSM 30 index gained 5.7 percent during the month and closed at a six-month high level of 3,771.9 points. These monthly gains lowered the benchmark’s YTD-2020 decline to 5.3 percent by the end of August-2020, the lowest in the GCC in line with Saudi Arabia’s benchmark performance.
Gains came mainly on the back of the Financial index that surged by 7.4 percent during the month further supported by 2.6 percent gains for the Services index and 1.35 percent gains for the Industrial index.
Trading activity on the exchange remained elevated for the third consecutive month with higher volumes and a marginal decline in value traded. Volume traded during the month increased by 6.1 percent m-o-m to reach 202.5 million Omani rials.
(Writing by Brinda Darasha, editing by Seban Scaria)
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© ZAWYA 2020
