Banking and telcos big index movers
Banking shares boosted Qatar’s stock market yesterday as it rebounded from a five-year low, while Kuwaiti telecommunications firm Zain fell despite a plan by Oman Telecommunications to become a strategic investor in it.
Qatar’s index, which had tumbled as much as 1.6 per cent on Sunday but finished 0.1 per cent higher, gained 0.9 per cent yesterday. That suggested a technical rebound might be starting to erase some of the steep losses since June 5, when four Arab states imposed sanctions on Doha.
Banking and telecommunications sectors attracted most of the interest in heavy trade: Commercial Bank of Qatar climbed 1.8 per cent while Ooredoo rose 1.2 per cent.
Ooredoo has a unit in Iraq called Asiacell. Shares in two Kuwaiti companies with telecommunications affiliates in Iraq fell, however, after the Iraqi government said it would seek to impose control over Kurdistan-based mobile phone operators and move their headquarters to the capital Baghdad following last month’s referendum on Kurdish independence.
Logistics firm Agility, a major investor in Erbil-based Korek, fell 1.9 per cent and Zain, parent of Zain Iraq, sank 3.5 per cent. Confirming market rumours, Omantel said it had signed a non-binding letter of intent with a vehicle of Kuwait’s Al Kharafi family to buy a further 12 per cent of Zain. Omantel rose 1.8 per cent.
Saudi Arabia’s index fell 1.1 per cent with telecommunications shares particularly weak; Mobily lost 4.1 per cent. Insurer Malath slid 7.6 per cent.
Retailer Jarir Marketing closed 0.7 per cent lower after initially rising when it reported that third quarter net profit rose 13 per cent from a year earlier.
The UAE-listed shares of Sudanese companies lost steam after soaring 15 per cent on Sunday in response to the lifting of US sanctions on Sudan. Abu Dhabi-listed Sudatel Telecom fell back 1.5 per cent after heavy trade and Al Salam Bank Sudan retreated 4.6 per cent.
The Dubai index was flat although builder Drake & Scull, the most heavily-traded stock, surged 6.2 per cent. The stock has been rising sharply since last Wednesday after it completed a capital restructuring that involved Tabarak Investment receiving 500 million new shares.