30/06/2010 00:00 AST
Qatar Exchange lost 73.87 points or 1.05 percent to 6,967.03 points yesterday from 7,040.90 on Monday.
The volume of shares traded decreased to 4,675,402 from 5,705,371 on Monday, and the value of shares was QR159,811,308.75 from 194,104,460.40 on Monday.
Among the top losers were Vodafone Qatar whose share dropped by 2.38 percent to QR8.15, National Leasing lost 2.14 percent to QR27.20, Gulf International fell 2.04 percent to QR28.50 and Industries Qatar down 1.88 percent to QR98.90.
The banking and financial sector fell 95.99 points and the insurance sector 0.00 points. The industrial sector lost 116.73 points and the services sector fell 50.18 points.
Meanwhile, Dubai-based developer Deyaar slid yesterday after giving up the management of a major residential project, dragging the emirate’s index to a 16-month low.
Most other Middle East markets also dipped, mirroring declines on international bourses as risk appetite dwindled on renewed worries over euro zone debt.
“We can’t escape the global trend — there’s widespread fear that if a major market goes down they know something we don’t, so we just follow,” said Sayed Quadry, vice-president of business development at Amwal Investment in Muscat.
Deyaar dropped 6.7 percent, ending within two fils of June 20’s all-time low after it said it would not manage the Skycourts project.
At its 2006 launch, Skycourts was said to be worth $409m.
Dubai’s index fell 2.2 percent to 1,482 points, its biggest decline for four weeks and lowest finish since Feb. 10, 2009.
The Saudi index dropped 2.7 percent as falling oil prices and concerns over quarterly earnings weighed.
Saudi Basic Industries Corp (Sabic) fell 3.9 percent and Rabigh Refining lost 4.5 percent.
“We are witnessing the effect of Asian and international markets — oil was down two percent at the open, so petrochemicals had to go down and that pressured the rest of the market,” said Saleh Al Onazi of Swicorp in Riyadh.
“Investors are waiting for earnings and so far the estimates are not that promising, indicating the same profits as Q1 or slightly higher.”
Oil was down 3.2 percent at $75.77 at 1312 GMT, giving up recent storm-driven gains as world stocks slumped.
An end-of-quarter surge helped Kuwait’s index rise 0.5 percent, its first gain for five sessions.
“It’s window dressing, which is strong in Kuwait because most companies invest in the market — investment firms, real estate, industrial services, there are no restrictions,” said Naser Al Nafisi of Al Joman Center for Economic Consultancy in Kuwait. “It’s one of the major weaknesses of the Kuwait market.”
This window dressing — pushing stock prices up at quarter-end to boost portfolio valuations — should continue today, the last day of the quarter, but the longer term outlook is less favourable.
“Excluding the Zain asset sale, we estimated combined corporate profits will fall by 50 percent in the second quarter compared to the first and that could lead the market down further,” Nafisi added.
Zain, which sold assets for $9 bn, rose 1.8 percent.
Egypt’s benchmark dropped 2.2 percent, with the country’s fiscal year ending today. “This is a start of a big fall,” said Hashem Ghoneim of Pyramids Capital.
Agencies
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