11/11/2010 00:00 AST
Qatar Exchange kept its upward trend for the fifth straight day, yesterday adding 38.78 points or 0.48 percent to 8,040.78 points from 8,002.00 on Tuesday.
The volume of shares traded rose to 8,319,077 from 8,239,969 on Tuesday and the value of shares increased to QR332,908,146.65 from QR315,183,907.95 on Tuesday.
Top gainers were Gulf International which was up 2.94 percent to QR28.00, Qatar Islamic Bank by 1.03 percent to QR78.50, Barwa up by 0.61 percent to QR33.20, Vodafone Qatar by 0.61 to QR8.20 and Industries Qatar by 0.40 percent to QR126.70. The banking and financial sector was added 82.27 points and the insurance sector rose 24.13 points.
The industrial sector gained 86.44 points and the services sector rose 10.55 points.
Meanwhile, markets in the United Arab Emirates are seen under-performing regional and global peers next week as downbeat earnings suggest the troubles dogging the country’s once-mighty property sector are far from over. The Saudi and Kuwaiti bourses are expected to be shut all week for the Eid Al Adha holiday.
Other bourses will also have a shortened trading week, spurring traders to book profits ahead of the vacation.
Dubai’s index was down 5.4 percent year-to-date to November 10, making it the worst performing Gulf Arab benchmark in 2010 after a slew of disappointing earnings wiped out some of a rally that lasted through September and October.
Builder Arabtec’s quarterly profit fell 96 percent, while property earnings have also come in below estimates, pointing to further weakness in the real estate and construction sector, which dominates both the Dubai and Abu Dhabi bourses. “If global investors want to play the global cyclical trade, it doesn’t really exist in UAE markets,” Robert McKinnon, ASAS Capital chief investment officer, said.
“The UAE economy is actually doing quite well — hotel reservations are up, Emirates airlines posted strong results, for example — but we can’t invest in these companies and there’s a big disconnect between the stock market and the real economy.”
Dubai, home to three man-made palm islands and the world’s tallest building, was hit hardest when the UAE property market crashed. Prices are down 58 percent from their 2008 peaks and further declines of 11 percent are forecast because of oversupply and limited liquidity as more projects that broke ground at the top of the boom are only just being completed.
But Abu Dhabi’s developers are also struggling, in part because of a contagion from Dubai, but also as a result of over-leverage.
Shares in Aldar Properties, the UAE capital’s bellwether, have tumbled ahead of an expected refinancing plan seen as likely to dilute the stakes of minority shareholders.
Aldar has an estimated Dh14bn ($3.81bn) of debts maturing next year, according to Egyptian investment bank EFG-Hermes, while Bank of America Merrill Lynch this month warned that Aldar needs Dh9.8bn ($2.67bn) by 2011 as it seeks funding to survive.
“There’s not a whole lot of downside and the market should move sideways — I don’t foresee a catalyst before the end of the year for UAE markets,” McKinnon added.Middle East markets are seen following increasingly divergent paths between now and the end of the year.
Agencies
Please wait...
