DOHA: Qatari stock market opened the month in red as the benchmark index yesterday edged down 0.16 percent to finish at 11,585.99 points. Telecom stocks were the main drag. Ooredoo declined 1.41 percent. Local retailers were the net sellers.
The Qatari bourse will continue to demonstrate vulnerability . The corporate earnings will influence the market throughout the month in a bigger way, said market watchers.
Industries Qatar (IQ), MPHC and Gulf Warehousing were the top losers of the day. QNB and QIB were up by 1.15 percent and 1.10 percent, respectively. The benchmark index gained 139.37 points, or 1.22 percent in October from the previous month. Market capitalisation rose by 0.46 percent.
Major regional markets fell yesterday after Standard & Poor’s cut its rating of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign debt and maintained a negative outlook on it.
The downgrade will have almost no direct financial impact on Saudi Arabia because the government and Saudi companies have minimal foreign debt. The world’s other two major rating agencies, Moody’s and Fitch, have higher ratings for the kingdom than S&P, Reuters reported.
The prospect of a slowdown in Saudi Arabia has been worrying investors in Middle Eastern markets. The Saudi stock index dropped 1.1 percent to 7,046 points, nearing technical support at its August low of 6,921 points.
The Dubai stock index sank 2.1 percent to 3,431points, breaking technical support around 3,500 points, which had supported it since early September. Abu Dhabi’s index fell 0.5 percent but National Bank of Abu Dhabi climbed 1.7 percent after a drop due to disappointing earnings.
The Peninsula
