By Satish Kanady
DOHA: Qatar Exchange’s (QE) benchmark index edged up 0.86 percent yesterday as local retailers continued to be bullish ahead of the earnings season. It seems the benchmark index is heading to the 12,000 mark. Powered by the energy-sensitive stocks, the QE’s main measure finished at 11,855 points yesterday.
Vodafone, Gulf International, Masraf Al Rayan, Barwa and Industries Qatar (IQ) were the most active stocks yesterday. With a turnover of QR78m, Vodafone was the most heavily traded stock. It surged 6.2 percent.
The telecom sector jumped 2.21 percent. The Industrials sector index gained 1.66 percent, as the Gulf International surged 4.61 percent and the bellwether IQ edged up 1.60 percent. Barring Insurance, the entire sector indexes ended in green. Insurance sector slid 0.56 percent.
Market watchers expect an extended uptick with the earnings season kicking off. QIIB, Commercial Bank, Islamic Holding, Woqod and Ezdan announced they would be disclosing their third quarter results in the coming weeks. QNB, which announced a 9 percent increase in its net profit for the nine-months ended September, was mute yesterday.
According to analysts’ consensus estimates, earnings of Qatari companies are forecasted to decline by 6 percent year-on-year for Q3, 2015, led by an estimated 38 percent year-on-year fall in Industries Qatar’s (IQ) earnings, again led by lower product prices. Investment Bank SICO that covered 18 Qatari companies noted petrochemicals will weigh on Qatari equities in the third quarter, a note sent to The Peninsula yesterday said.
The SICO analysts who covered 157 companies across the region indicated 8 percent year-on-year decline in their profits of GCC companies on year-on-year basis and 5 percent on quarter-on-quarter basis.
Saudi Arabia’s main share market index rose yesterday as investors continued to buy beaten-down petrochemical shares on hopes that oil prices may have bottomed out, while most other regional bourses were sluggish, according to Reuters.
Brent oil’s strong recovery above $50 a barrel last week made investors more comfortable with petrochemical stocks. Although the outlook for oil and therefore petrochemical prices remains unclear, equity valuations are now seen low enough to interest investors, according to a data.
The Saudi stock index rose 1.9 percent to 7,827 points in active trade, testing technical resistance at 7,812-7,953 points, its highs in September and at the end of August. Dubai’s market index edged up 0.2 percent in thin trade. Abu Dhabi’s index added 0.4 percent on buying of blue chips such as Aldar Properties, up 0.4 percent, and First Gulf Bank, up 0.7 percent.
The Peninsula
