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By Satish Kanady
DOHA: A day ahead of FTSE Russel to add 22 QSE-listed companies into its secondary emerging market index, Qatar’s benchmark index yesterday plunged 3.97 percent, or 419 points, to 10,152.77, the largest single day drop in the year. Top losers of the day included Vodafone, Industries Qatar, Masraf Al Rayan, Doha Bank and Ezdan.
The sector indexes fell collectively with Telecoms losing the most by 5.62 percent. Industrial sector was down by 3.67 percent. Vodafone tumbled 7.82 percent as Industries Qatar and Masraf Al Rayan fell 6.60 percent and 5.04 percent, respectively. Doha Bank lost4.21 percent and Ezdan was hammered by 5.05 percent.
The downward movement was on the back of surplus concerns given that Iran raised its crude exports near pre-sanctions levels of more than 2 million b/d in August and Libya and Nigeria resumed oil shipments and looked to boost exports lost due to internal conflicts. The coming week carries numerous negative connotations for the regional markets with volatility expected to creep in, analysts at Al Masah Capital said in a note sent to The Peninsula.
The Qatari market has enjoyed a strong rally over the past 1-2 months ahead of today’s FTSE inclusion. Since then, the one-off impact has worn off and the market has consolidated. However Qatari stocks’ valuations are on higher side.
Doha suffered from its largest single day drop since January in the heaviest turnover so far this year. Shares in companies set to be included in index compiler FTSE’s secondary emerging market index on Sept. 20 were the top losers. Fund managers said the correction was expected as the rally in anticipation of inclusion in the FTSE index had taken some company valuations above fair value, Reuters reported. .
On the global front, analysts said, anticipation and attention centres around the Fed’s meeting next week but the uncertainty is causing a negative effect on global markets with both US and European markets closing in the red last week. Oil weakened again but remains above the $45 mark.
Elsewhere, Saudi Arabia’s stock index dropped 2.1 percent to 5,936 points, only 25 points shy of the technical support on the August low. Nine-tenth of the traded shares declined. In Abu Dhabi, the equity index dipped 0.1 percent with main drag from large-cap lenders. Union National Bank fell 3.9 percent and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank lost 0.6 percent. In Egypt, the main index rose 0.7 percent as two-thirds of the most valuable stocks advanced.
The Peninsula
