Doha: Qatar Exchange pursued its upswing trend yesterday adding 35.01 points, or 0.30 percent to close at 11,642.04 points from 11,607.03 points on Thursday.
The volume of the shares traded fell to 15,811,411 from 17,243,520 and the value of shares decreased to QR929,454,918.50 from QR992,575,798.63 on Thursday. Among the top gainers were Industries Qatar, which was up 0.56 percent to QR196, Barwa Real Estate gained 1.87 percent to QR32.65, Al Kaleej Takaful added 5.30 percent to QR43.70 and General Insurance was up by 2.02 percent to QR47.95.
The banking and financial sector index was down 0.03 points while consumer goods and services sector index fell 0.42 points. The industrial sector was gained 0.45 points while insurance sector added 0.84 points.
Elsewhere in the region, Saudi Arabia’s bourse rose to a 68-month high in heavy trade after Fitch upgraded the country, while other regional share markets were narrowly mixed because of a lack of catalysts. Dubai’s trading volume fell to its lowest level since last August.
Credit rating agency Fitch raised Saudi Arabia’s long-term foreign and local currency issuer default ratings to ‘AA’ from ‘AA-‘, citing strong balance sheets and government efforts to combat unemployment and a housing shortage, as well as the country’s labour market reforms.
Saudi Arabia’s measure advanced 1.1 percent to its highest level since July 2008, while trading volume jumped to its highest in almost two years.
Meanwhile, Dubai’s measure retreated 0.3 percent to 4,141 points, cutting its 2014 gains to 22.9 percent. The market soared last year and early this year but has been trading in a 200-point range for the last three weeks, prompting investors to chase short-term gains in other markets. Some analysts say prices have become overstretched in some small-caps, and a pull-back now would be healthy for the uptrend to resume.
Daily trading volume fell to its lowest level since August 13, another technical indicator suggesting a temporary end to the market’s uptrend.
“The volumes have dried out — there’s no fresh money in the market,” said Hisham Khairy, head of trading for the institutional desk at MENA Corp. “There are more catalysts in Qatar and Egypt, and some investors have sold in the UAE to chase volatility there.”
Abu Dhabi’s measure shed 0.4 percent, also trapped in a sideways range after a strong early-year surge.QNA & Reuters
