DOHA: Qatari stocks surged yesterday as investors bought shares in the recently battered real estate sector. The benchmark index was up 2.67 percent, or 256 points, boosted by a strong finish at 9,857.20.
Trading volume rose by 3.5 percent to 8.37 million shares from 8.09 million shares exchanged Sunday. Turnover also jumped 27.4 percent to QR303.6m from the previous session’s QR238.3m. .
Bank shares extended a rally by rising 2.22 percent with QIB gaining the most by 4.08 percent. Insurance sector closed with sharp gains of 4.05 percent. Real estate jumped 3.76 percent from the previous session’s 0.80 percent. Barwa surged 7.67 percent, while UDC soared 6.66 percent.
Real estate stocks buoyed Qatar’s bourse after strong earnings from United Development Co, the most heavily traded stock, which jumped 6.7 percent in its highest volume since last July. The company reported a 10.2 percent rise in 2015 net profit and recommended a dividend of 1.5 riyals per share, up from 1.25 riyals a year earlier. Other real estate shares rose in sympathy, with Barwa Real Estate gaining 7.7 percent, and the overall Qatari index surged 2.7 percent, Reuters reported.
Saudi Arabian stocks rose sharply after the central bank raised banks’ maximum loan-deposit ratio, while most other bourses in the region were buoyed by a rebound of global markets.
The Saudi central bank, seeking to ease tightening liquidity caused by low oil prices, increased the ratio of deposits that commercial banks can lend out to 90 percent from 85 percent, industry sources told Reuters.
The overall Saudi equities index rose 2.4 percent as petrochemical giant Saudi Basic Industries SE gained 3.1 percent. Major real estate developer Dar Al Arkan rose 2.3 percent.
Dubai’s index fell 0.3 percent as DAMAC Properties slipped 0.8 percent and builder Drake & Scull, which had risen on Sunday because of better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings, fell back 0.9 percent.
In Egypt, the stock index also gained 0.8 percent as billionaire Naguib Sawiris’s Orascom Telecom surged 3.7 percent. Beltone Financial soared 10 percent for a thirdstraight trading day.
The Peninsula
