Doha/dubai: Qatar Exch-ange ended in the green yesterday adding 38.28 points (or 0.42 percent) to advance to 9,086.90 points from 9,048.62 on Thursday. Among the top gainers were Qatar Insurance which was up 4 percent to QR65, International Islamic rose 1.69 percent to QR54.10, Qatar Navigation gained 1.22 percent to QR74.90 and Gulf International was up by 1.23 percent to QR41.30.
Barwa Real Estate rose 2 percent to hit an 11-week high. The developer said it would announce several new projects this week at Cityscape Qatar as the country heads into an infrastructure boom in preparation to host Qatar FIFA World Cup 2022. The stock is recovering from a four-year low it hit last month on local retail and institutional investors buying.
“It’s Cityscape season here and real estate is in focus,” said Ahmed Shehada, head of trading at Qatar National Bank Financial Services. “Other than United Development, Barwa is the only other listed stallion and was lagging the move on other index movers.”
The banking and financial sector index was up 0.44 points, the consumer goods and services sector index lost 0.08 points, the industrial sector added 0.27 points while the insurance sector gained 2.37 points.
Meanwhile, Kuwait bourse halted two sessions of losses and recorded its largest one-day gain in more than four years as retail traders buy into small-caps, while other regional markets were mixed. The index rose 2.1 percent to hit a fresh four-year high and making it’s biggest daily climb since April 2009.
Small-cap stocks dominated trade, a sign of heavy retail activity. A sharp early-year rally backed by hopes that a calmer political backdrop will help economic recovery in the state, shows renewed retail trader interest in a market that slumped to an eight-year low in 2012.
“Despite the volatile performance, positive sentiments and optimism overwhelm the market complemented by unprecedented traded values averaging in excess of 100m dinars ($348.86m),” said Fouad Darwish, head of brokerage at Global Investment House.
Market profits are being invested back into the equities, with improving company earnings supporting. Investor expect the government to finally move ahead with delayed infrastructure projects, which were part of a 30bn dinar ($108bn) economic development plan announced in late 2010. Gulf Finance House jumped 9.6 percent. Mid-cap Ithmaar Bank followed, rising 1.4 percent.
Elsewhere, the UAE markets extended declines as the correction deepens on profit-taking after mounting an early-year surge. Dubai’s index fell 1.1 percent, down for a fourth in last five sessions since its 42-month peak. Emaar Properties and Dubai Islamic Bank dropped 1.6 and 2.5 percent respectively, the main drags on the market.
Abu Dhabi’s lenders weighed on the index. It shed 1 percent. First Gulf Bank and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank lost 3.1 and 2.8 percent respectively. Saudi Arabia’s measure shed 0.2 percent in slow trade, declining for a second session since hitting a one-year high. Trading was also thin in Egypt, where the main benchmark retreated 0.8 percent as foreign investors sold shares.
HIGHLIGHTS
KUWAIT: The index rose 2.1 percent to 8,322 points.
DUBAI: The index fell 1.1 percent to 2,281 points.
ABU DHABI: The index retreated 1 percent to 3,427 points.
SAUDI ARABIA: The index slipped 0.2 percent to 7,320 points.
EGYPT: The index declined 0.8 percent to 5,300 points.
OMAN: The index climbed 0.2 percent to 6,375 points.
BAHRAIN: The measure climbed 0.9 percent to 1,180 points.
QNA/Reuters
