Dubai's Emaar Malls Group jumps on listing

Shares in Dubai's Emaar Malls Group (EMG) rose on their debut on the emirate's main bourse on Thursday, while other stocks came under pressure and most markets in the region fell ahead of the long Eidul-Azha holidays. EMG shares, which were sold at 2.90 dirhams in the heavily oversubscribed $1.6 billion initial public offer, rose 12.1 percent to 3.25 dirhams - having surged as much as 20 percent early in the session - and dominated trading volumes.
During the subscription last month shares allocated to institutional investors were covered more than 30 times, while retail investors' orders were more than 20 times oversubscribed. Dubai's main index, which does not yet include EMG, slid 1.7 percent. EMG's parent company, Emaar Properties, was hit hardest, falling 4.7 percent. The stock had risen 14.1 percent since announcing the unit's IPO at the end of August.
"I think investors have already priced in the EMG listing," said Ali Adou, portfolio manager at The National Investor in Abu Dhabi. Elsewhere in the region, most markets also declined ahead of the extended break to celebrate the Muslim holiday of Eidul-Azha.
Bourses in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Oman will close for the whole week starting on October 5 and trading will resume on October 12. Stock exchanges in Bahrain and Egypt will be closed between October 5 and October 7 inclusive, while markets in the United Arab Emirates will shut down for October 5 and October 6. Abu Dhabi's benchmark edged down 0.4 percent as most stocks declined. Egypt dipped 0.2 percent largely because heavyweight Commercial International Bank slid 1.4 percent. Saudi Arabia's index was nearly flat. Qatar's index was one of the few gainers, having previously lost 4.1 percent within two weeks. The benchmark rose 0.5 percent on Thursday in a broad-based rally, although trading volume was very low.
Property Developer Ezdan Holding dominated the volume, retreating 1.2 percent. The stock rose 14 percent last month ahead of its inclusion in the benchmark from October 1. Kuwait's main index added 0.2 percent as National Bank of Kuwait rose 1.0 percent after announcing it has sold its 30 percent stake in unlisted International Bank of Qatar for 155 million dinars ($537.5 million). The largest bank in Kuwait will book a profit of 25 million dinars from the sale in its 2014 accounts, it said in a bourse filing, after the sale to an unspecified group of Qatari investors.