Dubai's Deyaar Properties helped lift the bourse on Thursday after posting a quarterly profit, and Qatar's market hit a 24-week high ahead of the Muslim Eid holiday, but regional markets were muted. Deyaar jumped 6.8 percent, accounting for half of all shares traded on the index, despite "disappointing" results, analysts said.
"It's some speculators trying to take advantage of the momentum but the value is very low," said Samer al-Jaouni, General Manager of Middle East Financial Brokerage. Its profit for the quarter was 600,000 dirhams ($163,400), compared to a loss of 145 million dirhams a year earlier, and it reiterated it would hand over two towers by year-end.
Dubai's index ended 0.5 percent higher, trimming 2011 losses to 15.1 percent. Dubai Investment also supported, rising 2.6. It posted a third-quarter of 24.9 million dirhams after market close. Aramex gained 1.7 percent. Abu Dhabi's banks weighed on the market with First Gulf Bank down 1.9 percent and Bank of Sharjah falling 3.4 percent.
The index shed 0.3 percent, with volumes their lowest in a week. "Investors are not willing to pump new cash- we will see what the global markets will do during the weekend, might give a direction on how our markets will open on Wednesday," Jaouni said. In Qatar, blue chips help lift the index by 0.6 percent to 8,631 points, its highest level since May 19. Industries Qatar gains 1.3 percent, Masraf Al Rayan climbs 1.4 percent and Qatar Gas Transport advances 2.5 percent. Qatar is the best performing market regionally, with year-to-date losses at just 0.6 percent.
In Oman, the index ended higher as buying in banks supported. Oman Investment was the main support, rising 1.9 percent. Traders said there was talk again of Oman Arab Bank (OAB) listing 25 percent of its capital, boosting Omaninvest, which owns 51 percent of OAB. Heavyweight Bank Muscat gained 0.6 percent and Bank Sohar climbed 0.7 percent.
"Volumes were better today with interest coming into banking names on back of decent Q3 numbers," said Kunal Damle, head of international brokerage and sales at Bank Muscat. Renaissance Services climbed 1 percent after saying it will unit Topaz will seek $380 million to refinance loans and consolidate certain facilities.
The benchmark rose 0.3 percent, trimming 2011 losses to 17.5 percent. In Kuwait, the benchmark slipped 0.1 percent, extending year-to-date losses to 15 percent. Oman and Kuwait markets will close from November 6 till November 10 for a holiday marking Eidul-Azha, while UAE and Qatar's markets will shut for three days from Sunday onwards.
Comments
Comments are closed.