Doha: Qatar Exchange ended in the green yesterday adding 35.22 points or 0.42 percent to advance to 8,368.33 points from 8,333.11 on Monday. Among the top gainers were Industries Qatar which was up 0.93 percent to QR152.60, Commercialbank rose 0.78 percent to QR64.50, Qatar Electricity and Water gained 1.55 percent to QR144.20 and Qatar Insurance was up by 1.66 percent to Q55. The banking and financial sector index was up 0.05 points, the consumer goods and services sector index lost 0.47 points, the industrial sector added 0.78 points while the insurance sector gained 1.03 points.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s bourse fell to a near four-week low in post-dividend sell-off, while an extended drop in oil prices also weighed on sentiment. Other Arab regional markets were mixed.
Petrochemical stocks in Saudi Arabia led declines with Saudi Basic Industries Corp losing 1.1 percent. The sector’s index lost 1 percent. “The market is under pressure from the dividends coming at the same time as the results,” said Faisal Al Othman, a Riyadh-based portfolio manager.
Investors have largely ignored estimate-beating earnings this week as global losses spurred them to book profits. Concerns of limited growth from petrochemical firms are also an overhang.
Brent crude sank below $100 a barrel for the first time in nine months in a broad commodities rout after recent weak data from China and the United States spurred worries about oil demand.
Oil is seen as a proxy for global economic activity and therefore demand for Saudi petrochemical products. The kingdom’s index slipped 0.7 percent, down for a fourth session to hit its lowest close since March 23.
In Egypt, bluechips helped lift the main benchmark by 0.4 percent, which rose for a seventh session in last nine since it slumped to a four-month low. EFG Hermes jumped 5.1 to a four-week high on talk a merger deal with Qatari investment company QInvest will go through. This eased investor concerns.
Orascom Telecom (OT) jumped 2.2 percent to 4.64 pounds ($0.67) after Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman’s Altimo confirmed that its unit Baskindale has offered to buy 100 percent of OT at $0.70 per share.
In Kuwait, the market rallied 1.3 percent to fresh 29-month high, extending gains in a move driven by government buying, traders said. The market closed at 7,043, crossing the psychologically important 7,000 level.
The buying started mid-Monday after a sharp sell-off following a court ruling which found Musallam Al Barrak, an outspoken former member of parliament, guilty of insulting Kuwait’s ruler. The buying from a sovereign wealth fund was a message of assurance for traders that the bourse would not be left alone, said financial analyst Nayef Al Anzi. “The rise was exaggerated and so was the message,” Al Anzi said.
Elsewhere, UAE markets were mixed with Abu Dhabi’s measure slipping 0.4 percent, down for a second session since Sunday’s 41-month high. Dubai’s bourse ended flat.
HIGHLIGHTS
SAUDI ARABIA: The index declined 0.7 percent to 7,097 points.
EGYPT: The index gained 0.4 percent to 5,295 points.
KUWAIT: The index rose 1.3 percent to 7,044 points.
DUBAI: The index ended flat at 1,968 points.
ABU DHABI: The index slipped 0.4 percent to 3,094 points.
QATAR: The index gained 0.4 percent to 8,368 points.
OMAN: The index retreated 0.7 percent to 6,240 points.
BAHRAIN: The index gained 0.4 percent to 1,092 points.
Reuters
