Doha: Qatar Exchange index added 1.55 points (0.02 percent) yesterday to reach 8,726.32 points from 8,724.77 on Thursday.
The volume of shares traded fell to 4,330,104 from 4,513,173 on Thursday, and the value of shares decreased to QR188,690,847.83 from QR232,324,890.25.
Among the top gainers were Rayan which was up 0.58 percent to QR25.95, Doha Bank which rose 0.53 percent to QR56.70. While Al Khalij Commercial Bank gained 0.47 percent to QR17.18, Doha Insurance rose by 0.69 percent to QR29.
The banking and financial sector index was up 0.31 points while consumer goods and services sector index lost 0.24 points. The industrial sector dropped 0.15 points while insurance sector was down 0.64 points.
Meanwhile, Shares in Dubai’s Emaar Properties dropped nearly four percent yesterday after its fourth quarter earnings results missed analysts’ estimates, dragging down the emirate’s bourse from a 37-month peak.
Emaar shares fell 3.7 percent but are still up 25 percent in 2013. The stock had rallied ahead of earnings on investor optimism about a recovery in Dubai’s beleaguered property sector.
The developer posted a 28-percent drop in fourth-quarter profit as costs soared amid the revival of stalled projects in the emirate.
“Emaar is still cheap in my view but after the rally we saw in January, the stock has to take a breather,” said Reda Gomaa, portfolio manager at Mashreq. “Revenues are strong but margins were significantly lower.”
Gomaa said the stock is unlikely to see any major further gains until Emaar announces its dividend later in the quarter.
Agencies
