DOHA: Qatar benchmark index rose sharply in line with the regional bourses on the positive sentiments on Syrian crisis. Buying support helped Qatar Exchange open the week on a stronger note as the 20-stock index gained 1.67 percent to 9,780.34 points yesterday
Transport, Real Estate and Industrials stocks were particularly seen outperforming the key index. The market which is up 17 percent year-to-date saw overall trading volume going up to 13 million from 7 million on Thursday. The value of shares increased to QR477m from QR281m.
The 20-stock Total Return Index rose 1.67 percent to 13,973.87 points, the All-Share Index by 1.60 percent to 2460.85 points and Al Rayan Islamic Index by 1.60 percent to 2803.85 points.
All the sectoral indices ended green yesterday, with the Transportation Index appreciating the most by 2.80 percent. Real Estate Index gained 2.51 percent as the Industrials advanced 2.11 percent. While the Banks and Financial Services gained 1.17 percent the consumer goods and services index advanced 2.11 percent.
Market capitalisation grew QR533bn from Thursday’s QR525bn.Of the 42 stocks, 38 advanced, while one declined and one remain unchanged. Qatari individual investors were rather in a bearish mood. Non-Qatari individual investors were seen bearish but with lesser vigour.
Among the top gainers were Industries Qatar, Barwa Real Estate, UDC, Doha Bank, Qatar Navigation and Vodafone Qatar.
Industries Qatar was up 2.45 percent to QR155.00 , Barwa Real Estate gained 2.99 percent to QR25.85, UDC rose 2.03 percent to QR21.63, Doha Bank gained 1.68 percent to QR54.50, Qatar Navigation jumped 3.43 percent to QR81.50 and Vodafone Qatar up by 0.55 percent to QR9.11.
Meanwhile, other regional markets rose sharply yesterday after the US-Russian deal on removing Syria’s chemical weapons appeared to avert, at least for coming weeks or months, a US military strike against Damascus.
The Saudi benchmark climbed 1.8 percent to 8,034 points, its fifth gain in the last six sessions since it dropped to a two-month low on fears of a possible US attack on Syria.
Gains were spread across sectors and the index broke minor technical resistance at 8,004 points, its early September high; stronger resistance lies on August’s multi-year peak of 8,223. “The market reaction to Syria was overdone and fundamentals are reasserting themselves now as the situation eases,” said Alhassan Goussous, Chief Executive Officer at Bakheet Investment Group.
Goussous said that overall, the Saudi market was cheap with valuations below historical levels. The index is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 14 times estimated 2013 earnings, according to Thomson Reuters data. “I’m quite positive on the market for the rest of the year. It could rise above the high of the year,” Goussous added.
In the United Arab Emirates, Dubai’s index jumped 4.8 percent to 2,660 points, up for a fourth session since it slumped to a two-month low. The market has recovered most of its losses since it plunged from an August peak of 2,762 points, and is up 63.9 percent year-to-date.
Real estate shares led gains and Union Properties surged 11.6 percent to a near four-year-high. The stock has risen 89.9 percent in 2013, mostly in the last four weeks. It was briefly suspended at the opening while the company notified the market of a board meeting.
In Abu Dhabi, small-cap Eshraq Properties rose 4.6 percent. The company said in March that it aimed to cross-list its shares in Saudi Arabia’s market; it said on Sunday that it was negotiating with several banks in Saudi Arabia to select a financial advisor in order to complete the cross-listing requirements.
Abu Dhabi’s benchmark rose 1.8 percent, while Qatar added 1.7 percent and Kuwait gained 1.9 percent.
In Egypt, Citadel Capital slipped 1.5 percent to 3.22 Egyptian pounds. The private equity firm has obtained regulatory clearance to ask shareholders to approve a 3.64bn Egyptian pound ($528m) capital increase, it said yesterday.
The Peninsula/Reuters
