DOHA: Gulf stock markets were mostly mixed in narrow ranges yesterday but Qatar rose for a fifth straight day on the back of buying by foreign investors seeking attractive dividend yields.
The Qatari index rose 0.5 percent in active trade. Exchange data showed foreign investors were net buyers of stocks by a substantial margin, accounting for 33.7 percent of buy orders and 21.8 percent of sell orders.
Qatari companies are expected to announce annual dividends in the next few weeks, and some buyers are positioning for them.Also, data in the last several weeks has confirmed that an embargo imposed on the country by other Arab states has done only modest damage to the economy and that growth has rebounded.
Real estate firm United Development, the second most heavily traded stock, surged 5.2 percent.
Aamal Co, which had risen 2.4 percent on Tuesday after announcing plans for an affiliate to build three local factories to produce copper wires, aluminium bars and drums for cables, added a further 3.8 percent and was the most active stock.
Dubai’s index edged down 0.1 percent. Second-tier real estate firm Deyaar, the most heavily traded stock, surged 3.5 percent.
But Union Properties fell 1.0 percent in active trade after saying it was in the final stage of selling its entire stake in Emicool, a district cooling service provider.
