An influx of foreign funds due to changes in some FTSE indexes boosted stock markets in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar on Thursday, while Egyptian real estate developer Medinet Nasr surged after announcing an ambitious sales target. Dubai's main index rose 2.3 percent as Emaar Properties, the emirate's largest developer, jumped 5.0 percent to 11.60 dirhams.
-- Egypt's Medinet Nasr surges on bullish sales target
Emaar had peaked at 12.00 dirhams this month after announcing the launch of the initial public offer of its subsidiary Emaar Malls Group (EMG). But the stock then came under pressure as retail investors sold some of their holdings in the parent company in order to raise cash for purchases of EMG. That wave of selling appears to have ended. Shares in smaller developers Deyaar and Union Properties added 3.2 and 2.8 percent respectively ahead of their inclusion in the FTSE All-World index, which will take effect on September 22.
The index compiler is also adding Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank to the benchmark, but the lender's shares fell 1.1 percent on Thursday, having already added 6.8 percent since the announcement on September 4. However, other banking stocks helped lift Abu Dhabi's bourse by 1.2 percent. National Bank of Abu Dhabi jumped 5.8 percent and First Gulf Bank rose 1.3 percent.
Qatar's benchmark rose 1.3 percent. Islamic lender Masraf Al Rayan dominated trading, adding 1.6 percent ahead of its inclusion in the FTSE Frontier 50 Index. Shares in Al Khaliji Commercial Bank fell 1.1 percent after the bourse said it would exclude the stock, along with Al Meera Consumer Goods Co, from the main index on October 1. The main Saudi index slipped 0.2 percent as some banks and petrochemicals pulled back. Al Rajhi Bank edged down 0.6 percent and Yanbu National Petrochemical Co fell 1.3 percent.
Egypt's bourse rose 1.6 percent to a fresh six-year closing high of 9,729 points. Property firm Medinet Nasr for Housing and Development surged its daily limit of 10 percent to 47.43 Egyptian pounds after saying in a bourse statement that it targeted sales of 2.0 billion pounds ($280 million) from its Tag Sultan project. Cairo-based Naeem brokerage said the figure was slightly above its own estimates and maintained a "buy" recommendation on the stock, while CI Capital raised its target price for Medinet Nasr to 54.60 pounds from 28.00 pounds. Shares in Commercial International Bank, which co-financed the Tag Sultan project, rose 2.7 percent.