Doha: Qatar Exchange index gained 4.59 points or 0.04 percent when the bourse closed yesterday at 12,144.01 points from Thursday’s 12,139.42 points. The market capitalisation increased to QR660.73bn compared to QR660.51bn on Thursday.
The traded value today decreased to QR251.1m with a volume of 5,337,151 shares from 3,887 transactions compared to QR336.41m with a volume of 6,251,803 shares from 3,918 transactions on Thursday.
The transport sector index gained the most, up 1.25 percent to 2,497.82 points. The insurance index gained 0.75 percent (4,120.26 points), telecoms added 0.51 percent (1,418.62 points) and industries was up 0.47 percent at 4,040.26 points.
The real estate index dropped 0.87 percent (2,390.77 points), the banking and financial services lost 0.21 percent (3,207.73 points) and the consumer goods and services was down 0.19 percent (7,159.78 points). Of the 43 companies listed, shares of 41 saw trading. From these, 20 gained, 19 declined and two remained unchanged.
Meanwhile, a continued rebound by telecommunications firm Mobily after its shock earnings restatements buoyed Saudi Arabia’s bourse yesterday, while Egypt rose after strong economic data. Most Gulf markets moved little because of uncertainty about oil prices.
Cheap oil has dampened trade in most Gulf markets for the last several months, and the latest oil price move was negative: Brent crude fell 1.2 percent to below $60 a barrel on Friday, posting its biggest weekly loss since January.
But the spectacular recovery of shares in Mobily (Etihad Etisalat) galvanised the Saudi market, whose main index rose 0.7 percent to 9,579 points in active trade, breaking technical resistance on the February peak of 9,544 points. The index faces stronger resistance on its 200-day average, now at 9,664 points; any break would suggest the market’s longer-term uptrend might be resuming.
Mobily jumped its 10 percent daily limit to SR42.50, the highest level since it began plunging in late January in response to the company’s announcement of a fourth-quarter loss. It had risen by the same margin on Thursday as trade in the shares resumed after a week-long suspension.
Mobily faces an uncertain future; it is the subject of a regulatory investigation over its earnings restatements and has said it expects to breach loan covenants.
But some investors are betting that its underlying business is healthy and that the appointment of Suliman bin Abdulrahman Al Gwaiz as its new chairman will ensure benign treatment from bank creditors and the government. Gwaiz is also governor of a huge state-owned fund, the General Organisation for Social Insurance.
Among other major gainers were several second-tier petrochemical firms that had been beaten down by oil price weakness in recent months. Saudi Kayan rose 3.4 percent and PetroRabigh rocketed 10 percent in very heavy trade - though the biggest firm in the sector, Saudi Basic Industries, was almost flat.
Makkah Construction and Development rose 4.5 percent after posting its quarterly earnings. The firm’s net profit rose 19.4 percent; investors had already bid the stock up 25 percent this year in anticipation of strong earnings.
Builder Abdullah Abdul Mohsin Al Khodari and Sons jumped 5.1 percent after the company said it had completed the signing of a contract with the Ministry of Health for construction of a hospital valued at SR313.2m ($83.5m). The contract had originally been announced in January 2014. Qassim Cement Co dropped 4.0 percent as its shares no longer carried the 2014 dividend of SR6.
Egypt’s market gained 0.7 percent in a broad rise after the government said on Saturday that the economy had grown a robust 4.3 percent in the quarter ended in December. Also, the government is continuing to announce new projects that it plans to present at its international investment summit on March 13-15. On Saturday, the transport ministry said it would present six projects worth $2.5bn, according to the Daily News Egypt newspaper.
The indexes of both Bahrain and Oman were unchanged in tiny turnover.
HIGHLIGHTS
SAUDI ARABIA: The index rose 0.7 percent to 9,579 points.
DUBAI: The index edged down 0.2 percent to 3,741 points.
ABU DHABI: The index edged up 0.1 percent to 4,594 points.
EGYPT: The index climbed 0.7 percent to 9,638 points.
KUWAIT: The index slipped 0.4 percent to 6,514 points.
OMAN: The index was flat at 6,526 points.
BAHRAIN: The index was flat at 1,467 points.
QNA/reuters
