Doha: The Qatar Exchange index added 44.88 points or 0.48 percent to advance to 9,335.21 points from 9,290.33 on Thursday.
The volume of the shares traded up to 24,513,435 from 12,541,376 on Thursday, and the value of shares increased to QR824,984,342.53 from QR408,600,923.25 on Thursday.
Among the top gainers were International Islamic Bank which was up 1.69 percent to QR54.30, National Leasing gained 2.47 percent to QR39.35 and Gulf International up by 2.78 percent to Q46.20.
Barwa Real Estate jumped 5.2 percent to a 21-week high after a unit of the Gulf state’s sovereign wealth fund bought assets worth $7.1bn from the company to help reduce its debt pile.
“Qatar’s rally is more of a regional and global catch up,” said Sebastien Henin, portfolio manager at The National Investor.
“Locals have put their money back in the market but for bluechips, especially banks to see earnings growth, people are waiting on major infrastructure plans.”
The banking and financial sector index was up 0.30 points while consumer goods and services sector index lost 0.26 points. The industrial sector was added 0.19 points while insurance sector gained 0.01 points.
Meanwhile, Egypt’s bourse tumbled to a six-month low yesterday as local investors sold on growing fears of a new bout of political instability, ahead of a planned mass demonstration on June 30 against President Mohammed Mursi. Gulf markets were mixed.
The organisers of “Tamarod” (Rebel) say they have collected more than seven million signatures for a petition calling for Mursi’s removal and early elections, with the aim of securing 15 million — more than the 13 million votes Mursi received in last year’s presidential election — before the protest.
A prominent Egyptian blogger on Thursday began a hunger strike in protest at his detention and to raise awareness of what activists say is a widening crackdown on dissent in the north African country.
Last week, the public prosecutor referred a group of 12 political activists to trial on charges of inciting violence near the Muslim Brotherhood’s headquarters in March.
Cairo’s benchmark lost 2.9 percent, breaking the key technical level of 5,000 points to hit its lowest level since December 2012. Egyptians were net sellers to regional and foreign buyers, bourse data showed.
No stocks were spared from selling pressure. Large-caps Commercial International Bank and Orascom Telecom lost 8.6 and 4.6 percent respectively.
Elsewhere, UAE markets slipped as investors booked gains in property stocks.
Dubai’s index fell 0.9 percent, but is still up 47.9 percent in 2013.
Heavyweight Emaar Properties shed 1 percent. Builder Arabtec lost 5.1 percent after it launched a $650 million rights issue on Sunday.
Trading volumes declined on both UAE bourses, with foreign investors away for the weekend and local investors cautious ahead of Wednesday’s announcement from index compiler MSCI on whether it will upgrade the UAE and Qatar to emerging market status.
“The main two catalysts in the UAE are the MSCI decision and the upcoming second-quarter earnings,” said Marwan Shurrab, fund manager and head of trading at Vision Investments. “We still see a lot of potential in the market.”
Abu Dhabi’s benchmark declined 0.3 percent, down for a second session in three since it hit a 55-month peak.
In Kuwait, the market fell 1.6 percent, extending its losing streak for a third session in profit-taking but the market is still up 33.2 percent in 2013.
Elsewhere, Saudi Arabia’s measure eased 0.04 percent. Declines in banks and petrochemical shares outweighed gains in the real estate sector.
Agencies
