Doha: Qatar Exchange ended in the green yesterday adding 34.57 points (or 0.41 percent) to advance to 8,435.29 points from 8,400.72 on Tuesday. Among the top gainers were Qatar National Bank which was up 0.31 percent to QR130.90, Industries Qatar rose 0.72 percent to QR153, Qatar Telecom gained 0.77 percent to QR104.90 and Doha Bank was up by 0.31 percent to QR130.90.
The banking and financial sector index was up 5.33 points, the consumer goods and services sector index rose 1.45 points, the industrial sector gained 14.03 points while the insurance sector added 11.10 points.
Meanwhile, selling pressure on Egypt’s bourse dragged the benchmark index to a fresh four-month low as institutional investors looked for an exit following nationwide protests, while Saudi Arabia’s market recovered from a 10-month low.
Palm Hills Development and Orascom Telecom fell 9 percent and 1.4 percent respectively, the two most actively traded stocks on the market. Shares in Orascom Construction Industries dropped 5.4 percent. The firm reported a 31 percent drop in net income for the third quarter, citing a seasonal slowdown in the construction group’s work, and said provisioning on several projects hit margins.
The index slumped 4.6 percent to 4,815 points, its lowest close since July 30. Yesterday’s losses trimmed year-to-date gains to 32.9 percent.
Elsewhere, attractive valuations brought back buyers in Saudi Arabia’s markets as investor jitters over the king’s health eased. The kingdom’s index rose 1.1 percent to close at 6,533 points, lifting from Tuesday’s 10-month low.
Saudi Crown Prince Salman said that the Custodian of the Two oly Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz was “well and in good health”, more than 10 days after the monarch underwent back surgery. The message is likely to reassure many states keen on the stability of the world’s biggest oil exporter, although local retail investors dominate trade on the kingdom’s bourse.
Bluechips that were battered in recent sessions, led the market recovery. Al Rajhi Bank gained 0.8 percent, Samba Financial Group rose 1.8 percent and Yanbu National Petrochemical advanced 3.1 percent. “Today’s rebound is because of the sell-off we’ve seen during most of the week — some of the quality names have been trading low and looked attractive,” said Asim Bukhtiar, head of research at Riyad Capital. “There was also some relief on the king’s health.”
In Kuwait, the index slipped 0.3 percent from Tuesday’s six-week high. “As the elections approach, anticipation as well as tensions have grown on the Kuwaiti streets, with many people still leading the charge on the appeal to boycotting (the vote),” said Nouf Aloqab, a trader at Global Investment House. Large-caps ended mixed.Rreuters
