Doha/DUBAI: Qatar Exchange pursued its upswing trend yesterday, adding 8.23 points (or 0.10 percent) to advance to 8,576.86 points from 8,568.63 on Wednesday.
The volume of the shares traded fell to 4,600,788 from 7,295,779 on Wednesday and the value of shares increased to QR354,832,543.05 from QR340,262,728.43 Wednesday.
Among the top gainers were Qatar Insurance which was up 1.82 percent to QR56.00, Qatar Telecom rose 1.00 percent to QR111.50, Doha Bank gained 0.84 percent to QR47.75 and Gulf International up by 4.01 percent to QR38.95.
The banking and financial sector index dropped 0.26 points while consumer goods and services sector index added 0.83 points. The industrial sector gained 0.49 points while insurance sector rose 0.43 points
Elsewhere, Dubai’s market rose to a one-week high yesterday as bargain hunters returned, while Egypt’s bourse lifted off a four-month low ahead of the weekend on renewed hopes of a much-needed $4.8 billion loan deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Dubai’s measure fell 6.2 percent from February 24’s 39-month peak to reach a two-month low on Monday, but bargain hunters have since helped the market rebound.
The index continued that trend yesterday, climbing 1.4 percent to its highest level since March 24.
Emaar Properties climbed 0.2 percent to be up 43 percent in 2013. The stock is a favoured pick among investors as Dubai’s real troubled estate sector shows signs of a tentative recovery.
Dubai Islamic Bank jumped 4.8 percent, its biggest one-day advance in two years, while Air Arabia and courier Aramex rose 3.5 and 2.3 percent respectively.
Abu Dhabi’s measure gained 1.2 percent to a 41-month high. Heavyweight First Gulf Bank rose 4.7 percent.
In Egypt, the country’s planning minister said yesterday that the government expects to reach a final agreement on its long-awaited IMF loan within two weeks, the state news agency MENA reported. Talks had stalled in recent months over economic reforms required to seal the deal. Political uncertainty and violent social unrest also delayed negotiations. Cairo must convince the global lender it is serious about reforms aimed at boosting growth and curbing an unaffordable budget deficit. Egyptians and other Arabs were net buyers. The main benchmark climbed 1.2 percent, trimming 2013 losses to 8.7 percent.
Elsewhere, Oman’s bourse gained 0.9 percent, up for a third session, as foreign investors bought financial stocks ahead of first-quarter earnings.
Oman International Development and Investment jumped 6.4 percent on renewed hopes its subsidiary, Oman Arab Bank, will be publicly listed, traders said. QNA/Reuters
