Gulf markets edge higher as investors hunt for bargains

21/11/2014 06:57 AST

Most stock markets in the Middle East edged up yesterday as oil prices paused in their decline ahead of next week’s Opec summit and stocks that usually see little trading took centre stage on several bourses.

But Qatar’s bourse edged down 0.4% after four days of gains. Heavyweight Industries Qatar pulled back 1.3% and topped trading volumes.

Dubai’s index rose 0.3%, largely on the back of telecommunications operator du, which jumped 3.6% to 5.49 dirhams in its highest trading volume for more than six months.

Equity research house AlphaMena highlighted the stock in a note on Wednesday, rating it as a “buy” with a target price of 7.44 dirhams, a potential upside of over 40%.

Abu Dhabi’s benchmark climbed 0.4% and National Bank of Ras Al Khaimah (RAKBANK) was the most traded stock, jumping 4.0% to 9.45 dirhams. Trading volume in the stock was the highest in five months.

RAKBANK broke through technical resistance at 9.30 dirhams, its October high; it faces strong resistance at 10dirhams, this year’s high, which was hit in August.

Saudi Arabia’s main index rose 0.3% as Malath Cooperative Insurance and Reinsurance Co dominated trading and rose 1.6%.

The firm said this month it had signed an insurance agreement with Abdulatif Al Issa Holding Group which would earn it about 275mn riyals ($73mn) a year in premiums, a sum larger than its current quarterly revenue. The stock has since climbed 56% as trading activity surged to an all-time highs.

Egypt’s index edged up 0.4%, recovering further from last week’s slump. El-Sewedy Electric, the largest listed cable maker in the Arab world, was the main support, jumping 4.2%.

Stocks appeared to ignore the Egyptian pound’s recent weakness on the black market, which prompted the central bank on Wednesday to promise to take “technical measures” to control the exchange rate. The pound edged up in the black market yesterday.

“It has no implications on the equity market,” said Allen Sandeep, director of research at Naeem brokerage in Cairo, adding that foreign investors, whose returns could be affected by the exchange rate, still accounted for only a small part of overall trading activity.

Kuwait’s index fell 0.6% as Kuwait Finance House dropped 2.7% to a nine-month low of 720 fils. The stock came under fresh pressure after Moody’s last Thursday affirmed the Islamic lender’s ratings with a negative outlook, citing weak asset quality among other issues.

Shares in Commercial Bank of Kuwait rose 1.5% after Kuwait’s central bank approved the appointment of Elham Yousri Mahfouz as its chief executive officer.

Elsewhere in the Gulf, Kuwait’s measure fell 0.6% to 6,986 points; Oman’s index rose 0.5% to 7,079 points, while Bahrain’s index fell 0.5% to 1,441 points.

Reuters