08/08/2016 08:17 AST
Strength in international equities markets at the end of last week helped lift share prices in the Gulf yesterday with markets most exposed to foreign capital inflows outperforming, while Egypt slipped on profit-taking.
Blue chips helped push Qatar’s index up 108.35 points, or 1.01 percent, with Vodafone Qatar advancing 2.4 percent when the bourse closed trading at 10,789.43 points.
Pertrochemical conglomerate Industries Qatar, which reported strong earnings late last week, jumped 3.9 percent. From the 44 companies listed on QE, shares of 41 saw trading today. From these 33 gained, 5 closed lower and three remained unchanged. Indices of all sectors ended in the green with insurance index gaining the most, up 2.03 percent to 4,329.76 points.
Dubai’s index climbed 1.1 percent to 3,511 points. Four-fifths of the traded shares advanced, with companies which have not yet reported quarterly earnings attracting the most volume. Builder Arabtec climbed 3.4 percent and amusement park developer Dubai Parks and Resorts added 1.7 percent.
Abu Dhabi’s index edged up 0.4 percent to 4,546 points as local traders bought small and mid-cap stocks. Insurer Methaq Takaful Insurance jumped 8.1 percent in heavy trade and Abu Dhabi National Energy rose 2.0 percent. In Saudi Arabia, the equities index rose 0.7 percent to 6,290 points as all 14 petrochemical stocks advanced; heavyweight Saudi Basic Industries added 0.6 percent.
Nama Chemicals, a small petrochemical producer, added 3.3 percent after it announced its board had recommended a 30 percent share capital increase through a rights issue valued at SR400m ($106.7m). The company said proceeds would be used to finance the production of new speciality chemicals. Large-cap companies in other sectors also gained with telecommunications operator Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) climbing 4.1 percent and retailer Jarir Marketing advancing 4.3 percent.
Cairo’s main index fell 0.4 percent to 8,223 points, ending three sessions of gains that had taken the benchmark to a 13-month high on Thursday.
Losers outnumbered gainers 13 to 12 as foreign funds were net sellers of Egyptian shares, bourse data showed. Telecommunications operator Global Telecom Holding lost 3.3 percent.
Some second-tier stocks seen as laggards rose sharply, however, with GB Auto surging 5.7 percent. Oriental Weavers, which had jumped 10.0 percent on Thursday after it announced a five-year plan to boost production capacity across all product lines, climbed a further 6.9 percent.
On Thursday, Egypt said it was making good progress in negotiations with the International Monetary Fund on a loan programme, and expected parliament to pass a long-awaited value-added tax by early September.
“As Cairo inches closer to inking a deal with the IMF, the stock market will continue to be supported,” said Wafik Dawood, portfolio manager at Cairo-based Compass Capital.
The index edged down 0.4 percent to 8,223 points.
The Kuwait index gained 0.6 percent to 5,492 points. The Oman index edged up 0.1 percent to 5,875 points.
The Bahrain index was flat at 1,157 points.
Reuters / QNA
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