(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Qatar Exchange gained 28.46 points as it closed yesterday at 12,264.38 points up from the previous closing of 12,235.92. Among the top gainers were Commercial. Bank of Qatar whose share was up 0.57 percent to QR70.30. Doha Insurance addeda 0.75 percent to QR 26.80 per share. Vodafone Qatar gained 0.28 percent to QR 18.10 and Barwa rose by 1.15 percent to QR 48.55. Of the 43 companies listed, shares of 38 saw trading. From these, 28 gained and 10 declined. (QNA)
Meanwhile, stock markets in Saudi Arabia and Egypt stalled after rising for three days in a row, while most Gulf bourses remained sluggish and banks dragged down Oman as its central bank advised several lenders to reduce cash dividends.
The main Saudi benchmark slipped 0.1 percent to 9,613 points after meeting strong technical resistance near the 200-day average of 9,662 points.
Telecommunications firm Mobily dropped 4.0 percent after surging 21 percent in the previous three sessions on hopes that it would recover following a shock 2014 earnings revision. The petrochemicals sector fell 0.6 percent as Brent crude dipped 1.7 percent to $57.51 per barrel and the oil market remained hobbled by oversupply and weak demand.
Dubai's index was flat as most stocks gained but heavyweight Dubai Islamic Bank tumbled 5.9 percent; its shares no longer carried the 0.40 dirham 2014 dividend. Union Properties surged 5.9 percent after proposing a 3 percent, or 0.03 dirham per share, cash dividend and a 5 percent bonus share issue for 2014. It would be the company's first cash dividend since 2002, according to Thomson Reuters data. Union Properties last issued bonus shares for 2013, a 5 percent issue.
Islamic insurer Takaful Emarat surged 14.2 percent on its highest trading volume in more than a year after the firm said on Monday its board had decided to "discuss the decision on profit dividend during the annual general meeting" to be called soon, although it made no concrete proposal for a payout. Takaful Emarat has never paid dividends since listing in 2008, according to Thomson Reuters data, and 2014 was its first profitable year.
Abu Dhabi fell 1.4 percent because of large lenders Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank and First Gulf Bank which dropped 4.0 and 3.8 percent respectively.
Oman's bourse fell 0.9 percent as most banking stocks declined. National Bank of Oman and Bank Muscat fell 3.4 and 2.0 percent respectively, while Bank Sohar lost 2.4 percent. The bank did not explain the reasoning behind the recommendation, but said it would increase its bonus share issue to 15 percent from 10 percent.
Egypt's market closed nearly flat after gaining 2.7 percent in the previous three sessions. Most stocks pulled back and Telecom Egypt dropped 4.4 percent, having reported a 31.4 percent slump in profit for 2014. But SODIC edged up 0.1 percent after announcing it had acquired 42 hectares of land on the Mediterranean north coast to build the company's first coastal development.
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