Doha: Qatar Exchange was in the green area yesterday adding 5.26 points (or 0.06 percent) to advance to 8,573.61 points from 8,568.35 on Sunday, while most other Gulf markets fell yesterday.
The volume of the shares traded fell to 5,958,385 from 6,254,667 on Sunday and the value of shares decreased to QR195,738,164.10 from QR249,276,053.43 on Sunday.
Among the top gainers were Industries Qatar which was up 0.71 percent to QR141.80, Barwa real estate company rose 0.33 percent to QR30.40, Doha Bank gained 0.36 percent to QR56.10 and Masref Al Rayan up by 0.55 percent to QR27.30.
The banking and financial sector index was down 1.47 points, while consumer goods and services sector index gained 5.69 points. The industrial sector rose by 6.16 points, while insurance sector lost 8.72 points.
Saudi Arabia’s bourse made its largest one-day drop in 11 weeks yesterday as slumping oil prices and jittery global markets spurred nervy investors to cut risk.
Saudi’s index dropped on percent to a six-week low in its largest one-day loss since July 9 as the heavyweight petrochemical and banking sectors headed declines.
Saudi Basic Industries Corp (Sabic), the world’s largest chemicals producer, shed 1.6 percent. Samba Financial Group and Al Rajhi Bank fell 2 and 0.7 percent respectively.
“Today’s sell-off is in line with what’s happening in US markets — you’ve (also) seen oil prices come off and some of this selling is in reaction to that,” said Asim Bukhtiar, head of research at Riyad Capital.
“Sentiment is weak on petrochemical stocks for Q3. Banks are expected to do well but there will be some moderation in lending in H2. Some of that started to show in provisioning in Q2.”
Saudi earnings season will start in early October and some analysts expect petrochemical sector profits to decline by about 30 percent, hit by weak global demand.
Oil was trading at $91.31 a barrel at 1304 GMT, down 7.8 percent since September 14’s four-month high, with the latest drop attributed to a firm dollar and worries about weak economic growth in key consumer nations.
In the UAE, Dubai’s measure slipped 0.3 percent, down for a third session since Wednesday’s 20-week peak. Courier Aramex fell two percent, telecom operator du shed 1.4 percent and builder Arabtec lost 1.5 percent.
Abu Dhabi’s index also dipped, closing 0.3 percent lower. Elsewhere, Qatar’s bourse ended little moved and Oman’s measure lost 0.6 percent.
Recent economic initiatives in Europe and United States helped UAE and Qatar stocks to rally last week, but investors have since booked some of these gains as global growth concerns resurfaced.
These worries also weighed on European shares as investors refocused attention from central bank stimulus schemes to weak economic fundamentals and the euro zone’s yet-to-be-resolved debt crisis.
Bucking the Gulf trend, Kuwait’s bourse rose 0.6 percent to a three-month high, extending gains since the government said it would double the portion of state revenue it puts into a rainy day fund. The move is thought to be aimed at investing state money more efficiently.
The index slumped to an eight-year low in mid-August as political infighting weighed on the economy, but it is now up 4.4 percent from this trough.
Agencies
