DOha/DUBAI: Saudi Arabia’s banks helped lift the bourse yesterday after two lenders posted estimate-beating earnings, while other regional markets also gained as bargain-hunters bought blue chips.
Qatar Exchange was down 15.92 points or 0.19 percent to 8,520.71 points from the previous closing of 8,536.63 points.
The volume of shares traded up to 4,347,837 from 4,309,506 on last day, and the value of shares increased to QR271,173,399.84 from QR267,043,020.98 on Sunday.
Among the top losers were Qatar National Bank whose share dropped 0.82 percent to QR133.40, Industries Qatar lost 0.50 percent to QR159.20, Qatar Insurance fell 4.82 percent to QR53.30 and Doha Bank down 3.79 percent to QR45.70.
The Qatar banking and financial sector dropped 0.37 points while the Insurance sector down 2.85 points.
The Qatar industrial sector lost 0.29 points and the Services sector fell 0.03 points.
Riyad Bank, Saudi Arabia’s third largest bank by market capitalisation, rose 1.7 percent. The lender posted a 5.5 percent rise in profit due to higher income, beating estimates of analysts.
Saudi Investment Bank jumped 8.4 percent after saying profits in the first three months of 2013 surged 48 percent compared to the year-earlier period.
Saudi bank shares have underperformed the wider market in 2013 after modest loan growth and pressure on net interest margins weighed on earnings in the previous quarter. The sector’s index is up 2.9 percent year-to-date.
Elsewhere, Dubai’s bourse made its largest one-day gain in three months, rising 2.2 percent.
Abu Dhabi banks also rallied ahead of earnings expected in the coming weeks. The emirate’s benchmark gained 0.5 percent.
Reuters
