Doha: Qatar Exchange index dropped 58.76 points or 0.48 percent last week when the bourse closed yesterday at 12,080.66 points.
The trading value of QR1.768bn is an increase by 15.75 percent compared to QR1.527bn registered the previous week. Market capitalisation at QR656.91bn last week is a drop by 0.54 percent compared to QR660.51bn at the end of previous week.
The banking and financial services sector led traded value last week with 29.21 percent of the total, followed by the real estate (25.54 percent), the industrial sector (23.12 percent) and the telecoms sector (7.53 percent).
The real estate sector topped the traded volume last week with 34.84 percent of the total. The banking and financial services accounted for 24.53 percent, the industrial sector (14.57 percent) and and the telecom sector (12.36 percent).
The banking and financial services topped the number of transactions last week with 24.61 percent of the total, followed by the industrial sector (24.10 percent), the real estate sector (21.85 percent) and the telecom sector (14.91 percent).
Of the 43 companies listed, 17 ended last week higher, 24 declined and two remained unchanged. Barwa Real Estate led the traded value with 18.46 percent of the total. Gulf International Services accounted for 9.13 percent and Commercial Bank 7.01 percent.
Meanwhile, most Gulf markets were soft yesterday. The main Saudi index edged up 0.3 percent to 9,691 points, rising above major technical resistance on its 200-day average of 9,662 points. Saudi Basic Industries was the main support, gaining 1.3 percent. Real estate developer Dar Al Arkan was one of the most traded stocks and climbed 0.4 percent after the kingdom’s housing minister was relieved of his position, which investors may interpret as a push to speed up the state’s housing construction programme.
The government has earmarked tens of billions of dollars for the scheme but it has progressed slowly, partly because of red tape and difficulty obtaining land.
The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud relieved Shuwaish Al Duwaihi as minister late on Wednesday. A permanent replacement has yet to be announced.
Dubai’s index edged up 0.3 percent and engineering firm Drake and Scull led gains, surging 4.9 percent. Emirates NBD dropped 3 percent because its shares no longer carried the 0.35 dirham dividend for 2014. On Nasdaq Dubai,
Egypt’s Orascom Construction dropped 4.0 percent to $12.50, well below its initial public offer price of $14.25, extending a sell-off which according to some market players may be driven by Egyptian investors looking for hard currency.
Abu Dhabi edged down 0.4 percent and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank tumbled 6.4 percent as it traded without a 0.40 dirham dividend attached.
Egypt’s market rallied from a week-low to climb 0.7 percent to 9,641 points as blue chips provided support. The Cairo government will tomorrow open an investment summit in Sharm El Sheikh which it hopes will burnish its image and attract billions of dollars.
HIGHLIGHTS
SAUDI ARABIA: The index climbed 0.3 percent to 9,691 points.
DUBAI: The index rose 0.3 percent to 3,708 points.
ABU DHABI: The index edged down 0.4 percent to 4,484 points.
EGYPT: The index rose 0.7 percent to 9,641 points.
KUWAIT: The index slipped 0.1 percent to 6,514 points.
OMAN: The index inched down 0.1 percent to 6,400 points.
BAHRAIN: The index rose 0.5 percent to 1,483 points.
QNA/Reuters
