DOHA: Qatari stocks fell two-year low on oil rout yesterday. The benchmark index plunged 2.01 percent to a 9,477.09 points. All traded stocks declined as both foreign and local investors went bearish.
The banking major Qatar National Bank (QNB), tanked 3.1 percent. According to market analysts Qatari banks are expected to deliver weak profits in the forthcoming annual financial statements.
Industrials and the Telecoms sectors were the worst hit. Industrials tumbled 2.01 percent with the Industries Qatar plunging 3.65 percent. Gulf International lost 1.54 percent. Transportations stocks declined 2.61 percent. The daily turnover touched QR179m with a volume of over 4 million shares from 2,753 deals .Banks also weighed on Abu Dhabi’s index for a second day. The benchmark fell 1.5 percent as investors fretted about lenders’ profitability ahead of fourth-quarter earnings.
Middle East bourses slumped in a broad sell-off as investors cashed out, with petrochemicals the main drag on Saudi Arabia’s index and blue-chips weighing elsewhere, Reuters reported.
Brent crude had slipped towards $30 a barrel to a near 12-year low. It then rebounded above $32 after Middle East stock had closed. Oil prices have fallen by almost three-quarters since mid-2014 due to oversupply.
Saudi Arabia’s benchmark fell to 1.8 percent to 6,069 points, its lowest close since late 2011 as Monday’s rebound proved fleeting.
Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank and First Gulf Bank dropped 5.9 and 2.6 percent respectively. Dubai’s bourse dipped 0.7 percent to 2,921 points, but above an intraday low of 2,874 points. The index is only 70 points shy of December’s two-year low.
“Unless there are major negative or positive surprises to fourth quarter earnings, stock markets will continue to be weak with no bright spots,” said Sebastien Henin, head of asset management at Dubai-based The National Investor.The Peninsula
