BHB registers gains for second straight month

The Bahrain Bourse logged gains for the second straight month albeit marginally with a growth of 0.7 per cent in January 2022 leading to the All Share Index closing the month at 1,809.8 points.

Research by Kuwaiti firm Kamco Invest reveals sectoral performance was skewed towards bearish territory with one gainer and six losers.

Only the materials index registered an uptick during the month at 9.4pc which buoyed the broader market index to remain in the green.

Alba, the only constituent of the materials sector, witnessed a 9.4pc share price growth during January 2022.

On the other hand, the real estate index reported the biggest decline of 3.7pc during the month followed by industrials and communications indices with declines of 1.4pc and 1.2pc, respectively.

The monthly gainers chart was topped by Inovest which saw its share price grow 30pc followed by Ithmaar Holding and Alba with advances of 12.1pc and 9.4pc, respectively.

Shares of Ithmaar Holding gained after the company entered into an agreement with Al Salam Bank for the sale of its consumer banking division, Ithmaar Bank.

Al Salam will also buy Ithmaar Holdings’ ownership stake in both BBK and Solidarity Group Holding.

The transaction is subject to approval of Ithmaar shareholders.

Seef Properties led the decliners recording a 5pc fall in share prices during January 2022 followed by Esterad Investment Company and Nass Corp which reported drops of 3.4pc and 2.9pc, respectively.

Trading activity on the exchange was mixed last month with a growth in value traded but a decline in volumes, indicating higher trades in large cap stocks.

Total volume of shares traded fell by 11.8pc to 40m shares during January 2022 as compared to 45m shares during December 2021.

On the other hand, value of shares traded during the month surged 7.2pc to BD17.6m from BD10.4m during the previous month.

GFH Financial Group topped the monthly volume traded chart with 7.1m traded shares followed by Al Salam Bank-Bahrain and Ahli United Bank at 6.5m shares and 5.8m shares, respectively.

Similarly, on the value traded chart, Ahli United Bank lead the way with BD5.4m worth of shares traded during the month followed by Alba and GFH Financial Group at BD4.5m and BD2.5m, respectively.

Global financial markets remained under pressure since the start of the year that was reflected in the 5.3pc monthly decline registered in the MSCI World Index during January2022.

GCC markets gained for the second consecutive month during January 2022 with the MSCI GCC index gaining 7.4pc during the month.

Gains during the month were broadbased after all the markets closed the month in the green, barring a marginal decline in Oman.

The sector performance chart for the GCC markets also remained largely positive with only one – the food and drugs retailing index – showing a marginal decline of 0.4pc.

Banks, on the other hand, were leading during the month with a gain of 8.5pc mainly led by expectations for a solid earnings season.

Early earnings reports for the sector showed falling impairments and higher profits during Q4-2021.

The capital goods and utilities index also showed high single digit gains of more than 7pc during January 2022.

Source: https://www.gdnonline.com/Details/1031521/BHB-registers-gains-for-second-straight-month