Doha: Qatar Exchange index ended its losing streak yesterday adding 1.16 points, or 0.01 points, to advance to 12,970.81 points from 12,969.65 on Monday.
The volume of the shares traded fell to 17,897,406 from 24,456,337 on Monday and the value of shares decreased to QR779,145,238.41 from QR1,060,470,807.15 on Monday.
Among the top gainers were Qatar National Bank which was up 0.33 percent to QR181.40, Industries Qatar gained 1.72 percent to QR183.60, Qatar Islamic Bank added 1.12 percent to QR99.10 and Electricity and Water was up by 1.18 percent to QR189.
Meanwhile, stock markets in the United Arab Emirates extended losses yesterday, led by Dubai builder Arabtec which dominated trading volume, while Egypt pulled back slightly after leaping in the previous two sessions.
Shares in Arabtec dropped their daily limit of 10 percent to Dh4.88, dragging down Dubai’s benchmark, which closed 1.6 percent lower after diving as much as 3.6 percent during the session.
Arabtec had more than tripled in value this year after winning a string of large construction contracts, including a deal to build $40bn worth of affordable housing in Egypt. It was also one of the 19 stocks from the UAE and Qatar which MSCI included in its emerging market index at the end of May.
But most analysts consider the stock overpriced now and rate it as a “sell”, according to Thomson Reuters data. The stock is down 37 percent from its record intra-day peak just a month ago; the measuring objective of a head & shoulders pattern formed by the peaks since May is around Dh4.20.
Profit-taking continued in other MSCI components on Tuesday. Emaar Properties fell 0.9 percent, Dubai Financial Market lost 1.5 percent and Dubai Islamic Bank slipped 0.1 percent.
Abu Dhabi’s index also fell 1.6 percent under the weight of MSCI stocks. Shares in Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank dropped 4.6 percent, while First Gulf Bank and Aldar Properties fell three percent each.
“A lot of speculators, short-term investors and retail investors had positions ahead of the MSCI upgrade and now they are dumping those stocks,” said Shakeel Sarwar, head of asset management at Securities & Investment Co (SICO) in Bahrain.
“What’s worrying me is the volatility, it seems to be very strong.”
Egypt’s bourse pulled back 0.3 percent after leaping 5.9 percent in the previous two sessions as President Abdel Fattah El Sisi was sworn in, and as a group of investors offered to buy a 20 percent stake in investment bank EFG Hermes.
Investors represented by Beltone Financial Holding said last week they were offering 16 Egyptian pounds for each shares in EFG Hermes. There is some doubt as to whether the offer will go ahead and whether it will be successful; Egypt’s financial regulator said on Tuesday that the bid currently did not meet regulatory requirements and more information about it was needed.
But the offer continued to excite the market; EFG Hermes climbed 1.9 percent to 15.50 pounds while Beltone itself jumped its daily limit of 10 percent for a second day in a row.
Kuwait was flat on relatively low volume as opposition politicians prepared to hold a public protest late on Tuesday to demand political reforms.
The market fell 1.4 percent on Sunday, its biggest daily drop in three months, after opposition figures announced the rally, but edged up 0.3 percent on the following day.
QNA/Reuters
