Doha: Qatar Exchange index added 18.24 points, or 0.16 percent, to advance to 11,173.97 points from 11,155.73 on Thursday.
The volume of the shares traded was up to 10,994,813 from 10,309,566 on Thursday and the value of shares decreased to QR353,451,751.71 from QR496,663,645.60 on Thursday.
Among the top gainers were Qatar Islamic Bank which was up 0.80 percent to QR75.50, Doha Insurance gained 2.83 percent to QR30.85, Electricity and Water added 0.83 percent to QR183 and Gulf International was up by 5.03 percent to QR79.30.
The Banking and Financial sector index fell 0.03 percent while Consumer Goods and Services sector index was up 0.08 percent. The industrial sector gained 0.43 percent while insurance sector lost 0.27 percent.
Meanwhile, A $6.1bn contract awarded by Abu Dhabi state fund Aabar to Dubai’s Arabtec helped fuel a cement sector rally in Abu Dhabi but failed to offset profit-taking on Dubai’s bourse on Sunday, while banks lifted Saudi Arabia’s market.
Confirming a Reuters report on Saturday, Arabtec said yesterday that it would build 37 towers for Aabar, which is its biggest shareholder, and become Aabar’s contractor of choice for projects around the world worth $20bn.
Arabtec’s stock rose 2.8 percent and another Dubai-based builder, Drake and Scull, gained 2.0 percent. But a 1.4 percent drop by heavyweight property developer Emaar dragged Dubai’s main market index down 0.4 percent.
Emaar might have been affected by news of the full conversion of its $500m bond into shares last week, said Ali Adou, portfolio manager at The National Investor.
“Overall, the market has to cool down, especially after the rally that we saw since the beginning of this year,” he said. Dubai’s index gained 12 percent in January.
Dubai’s main index closed at 3,754 points; since January 23 it has been unsuccessfully testing resistance around 3,807 points, the 50 percent retracement of the drop from its 2008 peak.
Abu Dhabi’s main index rose 0.4 percent, led by Ras Al Khaima Cement Co which yesterday reported a Dh7.9m ($2.2m) profit for 2013, recovering from a Dh7.3m loss in 2012.
That, along with news of the Aabar-Arabtec deal, sparked a rally in the cement sector. Shares in Ras Al Khaima Cement surged 14.6 percent; Ras Al Khaima White Cement and Construction Materials, Gulf Cement, Union Cement and Sharjah Cement also rose.
Large property projects, along with construction related to the Expo 2020 world’s fair in Dubai, will “obviously impact cement prices and benefit local cement producers”, said Marwan Shurrab, fund manager and head of trading at Vision Investments.
The cement rally offset losses by Dana Gas, which on Sunday posted a six percent fall in 2013 net profit, and Union National Bank, whose fourth-quarter profit fell short of analysts’ estimates.
In Saudi Arabia, the main index rose 0.9 percent, led by the banking sector which continued a rally ignited last week by Riyad Bank’s proposal to double its capital by issuing bonus shares. Riyad Bank rose 2.7 percent to a fresh five-year high yesterday.
Egypt’s bourse rose 0.4 percent after Finance Minister Ahmed Galal said the government would announce details of a fresh $4bn stimulus package within days.
Agencies
