Move aside BTC, there’s a new cryptocoin boss in town: The Ethereum network’s crypto token Ether — the second largest after BTC — hit the USD 3k mark for the first time since April 2022 yesterday, as investors anticipate the approval of a spot-based Ether exchange-traded fund (ETF), Bloomberg reports.

The view from the (digital) trading floor: Ether has grown at a faster rate in the market than BTC so far this year, with Ether having climbed 28%, compared to BTC’s 21%.

And Ether’s gains are expected to continue: “I expect Ether to continue to outperform BTC in the coming months, at least until April-May when the potential ETF approval looms closer,” digital asset platform OSL’s head of sales trading Stefan von Haenisch told the business information service.

But Ether ETFs are not a sure thing: Analysts are split over whether the approval of BTC’s ETFs in January will pave the way for other cryptocurrencies to follow suit, as some analysts have indicated doubt that the US Securities and Exchange Commission would grant approval to Ether’s ETFs.

ADX

9,389

-0.1% (YTD: -2.0%)

DFM

4,254

-0.5% (YTD: +4.8%)

Nasdaq Dubai UAE20

3,812

-0.6% (YTD: -0.8%)

USD : AED CBUAE

Buy 3.67

Sell 3.67

EIBOR

5.1% o/n

5.3% 1 yr

TASI

12,634

+0.2% (YTD: +5.6%)

EGX30

29,292

-0.1% (YTD: +17.7%)

S&P 500

4,982

+0.1% (YTD: +4.4%)

FTSE 100

7,663

-0.7% (YTD: -0.9%)

Euro Stoxx 50

4,775

+0.3% (YTD: +5.6%)

Brent crude

USD 83.03

+0.8%

Natural gas (Nymex)

USD 1.78

+0.5%

Gold

USD 2,036.60

+0.1%

BTC

USD 51,388.81

-1.3% (YTD: +21.4%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The ADX fell 0.1% yesterday on turnover of AED 1.3 bn. The index is down 2.0% YTD.

In the green: Dana Gas (+12.8%), National Corporation for Tourism and Hotels (+7.8%) and Palms Sports (+6.5%).

In the red: Bank of Sharjah (-9.9%), Rapco Investment (-9.6%) and Abu Dhabi National Company for Building Materials (-5.7%).

Over on the DFM, the index fell 0.5% on turnover of AED 456.8 mn, while Nasdaq Dubai closed down 0.6%.

CORPORATE ACTIONS-

#1- e& will pay AED 3.48 bn in dividends for 2H 2023, bringing total dividends for 2023 to 80 fils per share, according to an ADX disclosure.

The board is also planning a new progressive dividend policy, with an annual increase of 3 fils per share for the next three years, reaching a dividend per share of 89 fils by 2026, according to the disclosure.

#2- Emirates NBD will pay some AED 7.56 bn in dividends for 2023, the bank said in a DFM disclosure (pdf).

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