DOHA: The Qatar Exchange index gained 1.17 percent to close at 9,652.67 yesterday. The gains were mainly led by Telecoms, Transportation and Consumer Goods and Services indices.
Telecoms index rose 2.26 percent, while Transportation and Consumer Goods and Services indices were up 1.67 percent and 1.91 percent respectively.
The volume of the shares traded crossed 5.8m yesterday from Sunday’s 5.4m. The value of shares increased to over QR30.
Among the top gainers were QNB, Barwa Real Estate, Qatar Electricity and Qatar Fuel. QNB was up 3.16 percent to QR169.70. Barwa Real Estate gained 0.37 percent to QR27.20. Qatar Electricity and Qatar Fuel were up 2.11 percent to QR164.80 and 2.29 percent to QR268 respectively.
Middle East stocks
Meanwhile, Dubai’s bluechip Emirates NBD surged yesterday after its quarterly earnings came in ahead estimates by a significant margin, helping lift the Emirate’s bourse to a new multi-year high, while most regional markets also gained.
Shares in ENBD, Dubai’s biggest bank my market value, rose 6 percent to a four-week high. The stock is up 79.3 percent year-to-date.
“ENBD’s loan growth has been healthy and net interest margins also improved,” said Chiradeep Ghosh, equity analyst at Securities and Investment Firm (SICO) in Bahrain.
The lender made a net profit of Dh972m ($265m) in the second-quarter; a 50 percent year-on-year jump.
Five analysts polled by Reuters had forecast on average a profit of Dh783.8m.
SICO estimates 2013 profit for the lender at Dh3.3bn, which may be revised upwards.
Most analysts have a bullish outlook on the lender. Last year, ENBD reported an annual profit of Dh2.55bn.
Dubai’s gains were capped due to slight profit-taking; the measure climbed 0.2 percent to its highest level since November 2008 and up 57 percent year-to-date.
Abu Dhabi’s benchmark rose for 12 consecutive sessions, climbing 0.2 percent to a near five-year high. In Egypt, trading in bluechips strengthened as funds from Gulf aid boosted investor hopes of short-term stability in the country’s finances.
Egypt received $2bn in aid from Saudi Arabia, following $3bn from UAE, which will help to shore up the country’s foreign reserves and cover immediate subsidised food and fuel import costs.
“The key issue for Egypt right now aside from the political scene, is the money that is flowing in,” said Fouad Darwish, head of brokerage at Global Investment House.
“The country needs it for a number of things but more importantly, to ensure the currency exchange is not further compromised and the economic deterioration is reigned in.”
Elsewhere, Saudi Arabia’s bourse gained 0.9 percent to hit a new 15-month high.
The Peninsula/ Reuters
