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Traders work at Egypt’s Stock Exchange in Cairo yesterday.
Doha: Qatar Exchange index gained 47.42 points, or 0.46 percent, to reach 10,436.52 points from the previous closing of 10,389.10 points.
The volume of traded shares was down to 11,192,356 from Thursday’s 17,930,655 and the value of shares increased to QR550,933,360.65 from QR 674,329,624.61 on Thursday.
Among the top gainers were Industries Qatar whose share was up 0.18 percent to QR166.40, Electricity & Water whose share rose 1.20 percent to QR168.10, United Development Company gained 0.30 percent to QR23.39 and Salam International increased by 1.63 percent to QR12.49.
The Banking and Financial sector index gained 0.27 percent while Consumer Goods and Services sector index rose 0.27 percent. The industrial sector was up 0.33 percent while insurance sector increased 0.65 percent
Egypt rallies on rate cut
Egypt’s bourse rallied 2.4 percent yesterday as a draft constitution gained traction and an interest rate cut boosted sentiment, while most Gulf shares also rose.
Egypt’s Nour Party, the second-largest Islamist political group, said it would support a new constitution in an upcoming referendum in order to spare the country “more anarchy”.
“Sentiment has improved in the market over the voting process of the constitution - it seems there is a coalition forming,” said Islam Batrawy, a Cairo-based trader.
Separately, the country’s central bank on Thursday reduced its key interest rates by 50 basis points each, saying it was more concerned about boosting growth than taming inflation.
Batrawy said expectations of a liquidity boost from lower interest rates, that will attract higher investment to the country, are also spurring buying activity on the market. Cairo’s benchmark index climbed 2.4 percent to 6,484 points, its third consecutive gain but approaching resistance at the year’s intraday peak of 6,510 points hit on November 20.
The main support was heavyweight Commercial International Bank, which surged 4.8 percent to a record high. It extended gains since a price adjustment on a bonus share issue attracted buyers.
In Saudi Arabia, the measure advanced 0.9 percent to 8,321 points, its third straight gain since it dropped to a four-week low.
Agencies
