DOHA: Qatar Exchange (QE) benchmark index tumbled 2.2 percent yesterday, its third session of losses, as investors cashed out of blue chips. The index lost 225.59 points before settling at 10008.77. Islamic lender Masraf Al Rayan and real estate developer Ezdan Holding each retreated more than 3.5 percent.
Most of the Gulf’s stock markets retreated yesterday as investors looked ahead to the first-quarter earnings reporting season, which is now starting, while Egypt rose.
The Saudi index slipped 0.2 percent to 6,201 points but closed 45 points above its intra-day low. The main drag was the telecommunications sector, with Saudi Telecom (STC) dropping 2.0 percent as it went ex-dividend. Albilad Capital said in a note on Monday it expected STC’s first-quarter bottom line to rise 7 percent year-on-year.
The petrochemical sector also pulled back, with Saudi Basic Industries down 1.0 percent. But Advanced Petrochemical, the first company to issue first-quarter results in the Gulf, climbed 1.0 percent to 40.40 riyals after announcing a 62.9 percent jump in profit. Riyadh-based NCB Capital, which is “overweight” on the stock with a price target of 45.60 riyals, said in a note on Tuesday that Advanced had slightly beaten expectations.
First-quarter results from Saudi companies will reflect higher electricity, water and energy prices, after the government rolled out a series of austerity measures to help plug its budget deficit at the end of last year.
Other Gulf markets also fell. In Abu Dhabi, Etisalat, the largest listed stock, was the main drag as the telecommunications giant traded ex-dividend. The stock price shed 3.0 percent and the index fell 1.7 percent.
Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank dropped 2.8 percent to 6.50 dirhams. In a note by Kuwaiti research firm Global, analysts rated the stock a “buy” but cut their price target to 7.90 dirhams from 9.66 dirhams.
Dubai’s index fell 0.3 percent to 3,370 points, but closed well off its session low of 3,346 points after a bounce in the last hour.
The Peninsula & Reuters
