Doha: Qatar Exchange index dropped 116.51 points or 0.96 percent when it closed at 11,964.15 points here yesterday. The traded value decreased to QR292.25m. Industries Qatar, a major petrochemical producer, was down 0.7 percent and Gulf International Services, which provides services to the oil and gas sector, dropped 2 percent.
Indices of all sectors ended in the red with real estate dipping the most, down 0.69 percent to 2,380.21 points. Industries dropped 1.03 percent to 3,935.9 points, telecoms fell 0.78 percent to 1,356.39 points, banks and financial services went down 0.69 percent to 3,227.24 points, transport fell 0.27 percent to 2,484.65 points, insurance dropped 0.20 percent to 4,174.68 points and the consumer goods and services fell 0.11 percent to 7,133.84 points.
Of the 43 companies listed on QE, shares of 39 were traded. From these 30 went down, six gained and three remained unchanged.
Meanwhile, cheaper oil dragged down Gulf stock markets, while Egypt rose after an international conference pledged tens of billions of dollars of investment for the country.
Brent crude settled near a one-month low below $55 a barrel on Friday and fell 9 percent on the week, hit by a renewed rally in the dollar and a warning by the International Energy Agency that the oil glut is still growing.
Prices of many petrochemical products are linked to the price of oil, and cheaper oil squeezes the margins of Gulf producers. The main Saudi index fell 0.6 percent to 9,629 points and petrochemicals major Saudi Basic Industries Corp (Sabic), down 1.3 percent, was one of the main drags.
Dubai’s index sank 2.5 percent as most stocks declined. Bahraini investment bank GFH was one of the most traded stocks and tumbled its daily 10 percent limit after its board proposed a capital reduction and no dividend payments for 2014. Abu Dhabi fell 1.3 percent in another broad sell-off, although National Bank of Abu Dhabi jumped 2.3 percent ahead of its dividend registration date.
Egypt’s stock index rose 0.9 percent after a carefully orchestrated stream of positive announcements from the investment summit in Sharm El-Sheikh. Property firm Palm Hills Development, up 2.7 percent, led gains after announcing a deal to develop a new project with the government. QNA/Reuters
