Most GCC equity markets edged higher in September

Most GCC equity markets reported marginal gains during September, according to the GCC Markets Monthly Report by Kamco Invest. Dubai, however, fell 2 percent.

Qatar and Bahrain were the best performing markets during the month with gains of more than 3 percent. In terms of year-to-date (YTD) performance, the Abu Dhabi exchange, ADX, leads with a return of nearly 53 percent, one of the highest globally. Saudi Arabia and Kuwait markets followed with gains of 32 percent and 22 percent, respectively.

UAE

The Abu Dhabi exchange continued positive during September, recording gains, albeit marginal for the 12th consecutive month. The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) Index edged up 0.2 percent to close at 7698.82 points.

Sector performance was split between gainers and losers, although the size of the declines was skewed towards small-cap sectors that were offset by marginal gains in large-cap sectors.

Volumes traded rose slightly to 4.97 billion shares while value traded rose 63 percent to 47.3 billion dirhams.

Dubai Financial Market (DFM) General Index declined 2 percent in September. The DFMGI benchmark closed at 2,845.50 points after declining consistently during the month. YTD the index has gained 14.2 percent as of end September, the fifth highest in the GCC.

All sectors, barring banks reported declines. Banks rose 0.5 percent