Listed firms required to provide audited financial statements

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange said the listed companies are required to disclose the agenda and schedule of their Board of Directors meetings, where matters affecting the company’s stock price will be discussed, at least two business days prior to the specified meeting date.

In a circular today, ADX said that decisions taken during these meetings must be disclosed immediately after the meeting concludes, excluding the day of the meeting itself.

“For example, if a company’s board of directors decides to hold a meeting on Friday, Sept 27, 2024, to discuss matters affecting the company’s stock price, the company must disclose the agenda and meeting schedule no later than Tuesday, sept 24, 2024. Failure to disclose by Tuesday would be considered a violation of market disclosure regulation,” the circular explained.

ADX requested the listed companies to provide it with the financial report for the third quarter of this year in both Arabic and English using the Disclosure Electronic Services (E-Services). In this respect, ADX emphasised on the importance of disclosure and transparency regarding financial information of listed companies, for the benefit of all investors and securities dealers.

According to the circular, the the following reports are required to be submitted to ADX:

1- A comparative quarterly report for the same period of the previous fiscal year that includes the company’s financial statements audited by its auditor within (45) days of the end date of the relevant quarter. The report should also include a Board of Directors’ report or a Management Discussion & Analysis (MD&A), signed by the Board of Directors or an authorised representative.

2- The listed company should provide its financial reports approved by its executive management and prepared based onInternational Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

3- Financial statements must be disclosed either before or after the trading session, in accordance with ADX’s Disclosure Guidelinesfor Public and Private Joint Stock Companies. The circular noted that if the financial data is not disclosed by 9:00 AM, the market will suspend the company’s trading from 9:00 to 9:30 AM to ensure the safety of the trading session and the completion of internal market procedures. If the financial data is received during this time, the company will be allowed to resume trading after 9:30 AM.

U.S. stocks closed nearly unchanged on Friday, as investors paused buying after a strong rally in the prior session that was fueled by an upsized interest-rate cut by the Federal Reserve, while Nike’s gains helped nudge the Dow to a record.

After notching their biggest daily percentage gains since mid-August, major averages were subdued for most of the session, but managed to secure weekly gains of at least 1%.

stocks briefly had pared losses after comments from Fed Governor Christopher Waller increased expectations the central bank will cut interest rates by 50 basis points at its November meeting, having just cut by 50 bps on Wednesday.

Fellow Governor Michelle Bowman, however, maintained that a smaller Fed cut this week would have been preferred.

“The market is still trying to recalibrate because, yes, there were some market participants that may have expected 50 basis points but a lot of people didn’t,” said Sid Vaidya, U.S. chief wealth strategist at TD Wealth in New York.

“You have to be a little bit more selective and measured just because we are expecting growth to slow down a little bit and valuations, especially in large-cap growth, are a bit stretched so you want to be a bit selective.” The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 38.17 points, or 0.09%, to 42,063.36, the S&P 500 lost 11.09 points, or 0.19%, to 5,702.55 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 65.66 points, or 0.36%, to 17,948.32.

For the week, the S&P 500 gained 1.36%, the Nasdaq rose 1.49%, and the Dow climbed 1.62%.

Markets are fully pricing in a cut of at least 25 bps in November, with expectations for a cut of 50 bps given a 48.9% chance, according to CME’s FedWatch Tool.

Utilities surged 2.69% to a record high as the best-performing of the 11 major S&P sectors, led by a 22.29% jump in Constellation Energy shares after the company signed a data-center deal with Microsoft to help resurrect a unit of the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania.

Also supporting the Dow was Intel, whose shares closed up 3.31% after the Wall Street Journal reported Qualcomm had made a takeover approach to the chipmaker.

The Fed began its monetary-easing cycle on Wednesday and projected a period of steady economic growth and low unemployment and inflation. FedEx plunged 15.23% after lowering its full-year revenue forecast, sending the Dow Jones Transport index down 3.53%, its biggest daily drop since late April 2023. Nike jumped 6.84% after saying former senior executive Elliott Hill will rejoin the company to succeed John Donahoe as CEO.

WAM/ Agencies