Doha: Qatar Exchange index gained 28.17 points, or 0.20 percent, when the bourse closed trading at 14,137.33 points yesterday. The trading value was down to QR486.347m from Sunday’s QR553.320m while the volume of shares dipped to 10,897,795 from 6,048 transactions compared to 12,16,354 shares from 6,089 transactions.
The market capitalisation increased to QR751.418bn from Sunday’s QR748.455bn.
Telecom (0.72 percent), banking and financial services (0.61 percent), consumer goods and services (0.59 percent) and real estate (0.03 percent) indices gained today while industries (0.04 percent) and transport (0.01 percent) indices dipped marginally.
From the 43 listed companies, shares of 41 firms saw trading yesterday. From these 24 gained, 11 declined and six remained unchanged.
Qatar Oman Investment Company led the gainers yesterday. Its share was up 3.66 to QR18.43 from the previous closing at QR17.78 with a traded volume of 1,353,046 shares from 405 transactions. Qatar National Bank share closed at QR 209, up 1.75 percent.
Meanwhile, Builder Arabtec helped lift Dubai’s bourse yesterday as investors speculated that Abu Dhabi state fund Aabar Investments might increase its stake in the firm and pay a premium to the market price.
The Dubai index rose 0.5 percent as Arabtec jumped 3.7 percent to Dh4.77 and dominated trading volumes. News channel Al Arabiya reported yesterday that former Arabtec Chief Executive Ismaik had agreed to sell half of his 27.90 percent stake in the firm to Aabar at a price of between 5.00 and 5.50 dirhams per share; it quoted unnamed sources.
Abu Dhabi’s bourse was nearly flat but investment firm Waha Capital surged 6.5 percent after announcing that its board would discuss a share buyback programme on September 17.
Egypt’s benchmark added 0.2 percent, ending a five-day profit-taking bout. Shares in Telecom Egypt rose 1.3 percent to 14.49 pounds after Barclays raised its target price for the stock to 15 pounds from 14.80 pounds.
Saudi Arabia’s bourse fell 0.9 percent, its biggest daily decline in 12 weeks, as the uptrend ignited by the news that the kingdom would open its market to foreign investors appeared to be running out of steam.
Agencies
