Doha: Qatar Exchange index added 38.06 points or 0.41 percent yesterday to advance to 9,368.60 points from 9,330.54 on Monday.
The volume of the shares traded rose to 5,670,524 from 4,017,566 on Monday and the value of shares decreased to QR227,999,599.68 from QR229,818,747.29 on Monday.
Among the top gainers were Qatar National Bank which was up 0.93 percent to QR162.50, Industries Qatar rose 0.06 percent to QR158.10, Electricity and Water gained 2.69 percent to QR164.30 and Qatar Telecom rose by 0.41 percent to QR121.50.
The banking and financial sector index was up 0.39 points while consumer goods and services sector index dropped 0.54 points. The industrial sector gained 0.39 points while insurance sector lost 0.54 points.
Meanwhile, Egypt’s bourse posted its biggest one-day gain in a year yesterday after an army ultimatum to President Mohamed Mursi to share power spurred buying by local investors. Gulf markets were mixed though an amnesty for foreign workers helped Saudi Arabia.
Cairo’s benchmark rose 4.9 percent to a near four-week high, in its largest one-day rise since July 2012. Some shares face five percent limits for their moves and went limit-up. The index is still down 8.7 percent year-to-date.
After nationwide anti-government protests, the army threatened on Monday to intervene if political parties did not reach a compromise within 48 hours.
Although this risks further turmoil and the possibility of a long-term escalation of conflict between Islamists and secular forces in Egypt, many investors think it may be a step towards removing Mursi — blamed for much of the economic and political chaos of the past year — in the near term, or at least forcing him to share power.
“The confidence in the military pushed the market higher — investors have many hopes to see a new government with better economic plans that will remove the instability,” said Amr El Feky, chief technical trader at Cairo Capital Securities.
Egyptians were net buyers of stocks on Tuesday, bourse data showed, while foreigners were net sellers.
Analysts were reluctant to predict how far the market’s rally might continue; even if the opposing sides somehow form a coalition government, it will be unclear whether that government can operate smoothly until elections are held.
In Saudi Arabia, the benchmark climbed 0.7 percent as banks led gains, with that sector rising 1.7 percent.
Market sentiment was helped by the government’s decision to extend the deadline for foreign workers to legalise their status to November 3 from July 3. Tens of thousands more workers could be deported under a crackdown on illegal foreign labour, raising fears of economic disruption, particularly to the construction sector.
The building and construction sector gained 0.5 percent; shares in retail group Fawaz Abdulazis Alhokair , in another industry which relies heavily on foreign labour, jumped 5.2 percent.
Elsewhere in the Gulf, United Arab Emirates markets declined as investors booked gained from Monday’s rally. All Gulf bourses rose on Monday - the start of the third quarter - as asset managers opened new positions.
Agencies
