UAE Stocks Close Mixed Ahead of PMI Data
United Arab Emirates shares ended on both sides of the spectrum as investors will shift their focus to the upcoming release of the country's key economic indicator.At the close of Thursday trading, the FTSE ADX General Index added 0.216%, while the DFM General Index lost 0.324%.Investors will await the release of the closely-watched UAE S&P Global Purchasing Managers' Index data for June on Friday to see how the region's non-oil private sector performed amid the ongoing uncertainties in the Middle East. The data inched up to 52.6 in May from 52.1 in April.On the geopolitical front, Qatar's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari said in a social media post that "positive progress" was made on certain aspects of the US and Iran's June memorandum of understanding during the indirect low-level technical talks held in Doha on Wednesday.Closer to home, the UAE's Ministry of Finance listed the country's inaugural sovereign retail T-sukuk on Nasdaq Dubai. The oversubscribed offering received subscription requests of 445 million Emirati dirhams, resulting in the increase of the issue size to 100 million dirhams from 50 million dirhams."The listing of the UAE's inaugural Sovereign Retail T-Sukuk Programme marks an important step in the continued development of the country's capital markets. By lowering the barrier to entry for government-backed fixed-income investments and bringing them to a transparent, regulated marketplace, this programme opens the door for more individuals to participate in an asset class that has traditionally been beyond the reach of many retail investors," Nasdaq Dubai and Dubai Financial Market Chief Executive Officer Hamed Ali commented.On the corporate side, Burjeel Holdings (ADX:BURJEEL) finalized the issue of its $500 million Regulation S senior unsecured sukuk due 2031 as part of its efforts to diversify its funding sources and bolster its capital structure. Its shares closed 2.63% lower.Dubai-listed lender Mashreq Bank (DFM:MASQ) partnered with Sukoon Insurance (DFM:SUKOON) to launch an embedded insurance service for small- to medium-enterprise customers. Mashreq Bank shares ended 0.78% in the red, while Sukoon Insurance closed the session flat.
