By Satish Kanady
DOHA: Qatari stocks jumped on improved oil prices and strong corporate numbers yesterday. Industrial and real estate shares lifted the benchmark index above 12,300 levels during intraday trade before settling at 12,279 point.
The current trend suggests the bourse is likely to rebound to the pre-oil crisis levels, analysts said.
“The current technical picture of the market is neutral as it can move in either direction; however, regaining above the overhead resistance line at around 12,300 point would increase the chances of moving further up towards 12,800 point and 13,000 point. On the counter side, the nearby support levels are located at 11,800 point and 11,600 point, which should prevent a fall back towards December’s low at 10,920 point”, analysts at Global Investment House (GIH) noted yesterday.
Qatar Exchange (QE) benchmark index retreated from its all-time high at 14,350 point, reaching 10,920 on oil slip. Oil prices rose strongly again since Thursday, gaining roughly 19 percent over four straight sessions.
Gulf International was yesterday’s major driver. The energy-related stock surged 5.76 percent after it delivered a record QR1.4bn full-year net profit. The improvement in net profit was driven by the ambitious growth plans across all segments, especially in the drilling segment. The board of directors proposed a QR5.5 dividend for 2014. Another industrial stock MPHC jumped 1.99 percent. Real estate stocks advanced 1.93 percent, as banks and financial services sector added 1.11 percent. UDC and Barwa soared 3.01 percent and 3.38 percent, respectively.
Market cap increased by QR8bn from the previous session. Total traded value jumped to QR780m from QR468m. Total traded volume almost doubled to 16 million shares.
On their equity strategy, the GIH analysts noted that this is the best time for medium-term and long-term investors to re-enter the market. “Medium-term and long-term investors can re-enter the market at levels higher than 12,3000 point”, they said.
Market data suggests QIB outperformed the blue chips on QE on year-on-year basis last month, followed by Vodafone Qatar and Masraf Al Rayan. Elsewhere, Dubai’s index jumped 2.5 percent. Abu Dhabi’s index added
1.4 percent. The Peninsula
