Doha: Qatar Exchange was down 9.25 points or 0.11 percent to 8,667.85 points yesterday from the previous closing of 8,677.10 points. Among the top losers were Industries Qatar whose share dropped 0.41 percent to QR1714.30, Qatar Islamic Bank lost 0.87 percent to QR68.40, Ooredoo fell 0.87 percent to QR114 and Gulf International Services was down 0.61 percent to QR40.50.
The banking and financial sector lost 0.27 points, the insurance sector added 1.40 points, the industrial sector dropped 0.29 points and the services sector fell 0.37 points.
Meanwhile, Dubai heavyweight Emaar Properties fell after reporting a drop in quarterly profit on rising costs, but the overall market recovered from an early slide, suggesting investors’ underlying optimism had not changed.
Property developer Emaar reported a worse-than-expected net profit of Dh556m ($151.4m) in the quarter ended March 31, compared to Dh606m in the same period a year ago. Emaar shares slipped 1.3 percent in response, but they remain up 48 percent since the end of last year. The profit drop was largely due to higher sales costs, the company said, and revenue rose 16 percent.
So investors decided the profit drop made no difference to the bullish outlook for the property sector. Emaar’s chairman said yesterday that he expected his company’s real estate business to increase drastically. Dubai’s index shrugged off early losses to end 0.1 percent higher, though gains were smaller than in recent sessions.
“As the UAE bellwether, a great deal was expected from Emaar numbers. Whilst solid, there was no upside surprise and some profit-taking has been evident today,” said Julian Bruce, EFG-Hermes’ director of institutional equity sales. “This prompted caution from recent buyers in the broader market, and it was good to see the index taking a bit of a breather after recent exuberance.”
Other Gulf markets were mixed. Egypt’s market and Bahrain’s bourse were closed, as was much of Asia and Europe, for a Labour Day bank holiday.
Kuwait’s measure jumped 1.8 percent to 7,563 points, rising for the ninth straight session. Some said the rise above 7,500 points was technically bullish. “Over the medium and short terms, the index is moving in an uptrend. A break above this level (7,500) would indicate a continuation of the uptrend,” said a note from NBK Capital.
“The next target is 7,600. We view any pullback to the support levels as a buying opportunity. The medium term target is 8,400.” Kuwait Projects Co (Kipco) rose 1.2 percent after it said it was on track for double-digit revenue growth this year, although quarterly profit was flat.
Several blue chip stocks fell in Saudi Arabia after oil dropped below $101 a barrel on Wednesday, extending its biggest monthly drop in 11 months, as fresh concerns over economic growth in China weakened the demand outlook. Saudi Basic Industries slipped 0.6 percent, weighing on the general index, which ended 0.1 percent lower at 7,175 points.
Loss-making telecommunications operator Zain Saudi fell 4.0 percent, adding to losses from the previous session, after it said it had extended the maturity on $3bn of loans for up to five weeks. It was the latest in a series of extensions since 2011, and investors had been hoping the company would finally be able to put together a new long-term financing package, reducing uncertainty.
HIGHLIGHTS
DUBAI: The index rose 0.1 percent to 2,137 points.
KUWAIT: The measure advanced 1.8 percent to 7,563 points.
SAUDI ARABIA: The benchmark slid 0.1 percent to 7,175 points.
ABU DHABI: The measure ended flat at 3,274 points.
QATAR: The index slipped 0.1 percent to 8,668 points.
OMAN: The benchmark rose 0.3 percent to 6,146 points.
Qna/Reuters
