(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Qatar Exchange (QE) index gained 224.06 points or 1.98 percent to close at 11,563.56 yesterday. The market capitalisation increased to QR608.07bn from QR600.12bn registered on Sunday. Indices of all five sectors ended in green and two sectors ended in red.
The banking and the financial sector gained 0.68 percent to 3,083.07 points. The industrials index added 1.37 percent to 3,567.23 points, while the consumer goods & services index lost 0.43 percent to 6,855.8 points.
Of the 43 companies listed, investors exchanged shares of 43. Of these 15 gained and 22 declined. Six companies remained unchanged.
Qatar's bourse outperformed the Gulf, thanks to upcoming adjustments to MSCI's emerging markets index. Property developer Ezdan Holding, one of the stocks whose weighting in the benchmark is increasing from today, surged 7.8 percent.
Passively managed funds, which replicate indexes, usually adjust their positions on the last trading day before index reviews take effect. Commercial Bank of Qatar, another Doha stock whose weighting is set to increase, gained 4 percent.
Meanwhile, most Gulf stock markets fell, tracking volatile oil prices, while Egypt's bourse jumped after energy major Eni announced a potentially huge natural gas discovery off the country's coast.
The main Saudi Arabian stock index dropped 2.2 percent, closing August with a 17.3 percent loss, its biggest monthly drop since October 2008. Like other Gulf markets, it swung wildly during the month in response to oil price changes; at its bottom on August 24, the benchmark was 30.9 percent down month-to-date. All sectors fell as Brent oil dipped back below $49 a barrel, pressured by a supply glut and renewed concern about a hard landing for China's economy.
Al Tayyar Travel tumbled 5.7 percent after the firm said its founder Nasser bin Aqeel Al Tayyar would resign as vice-chairman and managing director from today. News that Saudi Arabia's real gross domestic product growth accelerated to 3.8 percent year-on-year in the second quarter from 2.3 percent in the first, hitting its fastest rate since the first quarter of 2014, failed to improve market sentiment.
Elsewhere, Dubai's index fell 0.7 percent with most stocks in the red. But property developer Damac, the most traded stock, jumped 2.1 percent ahead of a September 15 shareholder meeting which will vote on the firm's first cash dividend payout since its listing in the emirate in January. Dubai's index closed August 11.6 percent lower; it was down 17.9 percent month-to-date at its August 24 low.
Abu Dhabi's benchmark, on the other hand, climbed 0.9 percent, supported by banks. First Gulf Bank surged 3.2 percent and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank was up 1.8 percent.
Egypt's bourse erased its losses and jumped 2.8 percent. Ezz Steel was the top gainer, surging to its daily 10 percent limit after Eni announced the discovery of a natural gas field off the Egyptian coast on Sunday, which it said might prove able to meet the country's energy needs for decades.
As a major energy consumer, Ezz Steel is suffering from gas shortages, and a boost to supply could allow it to ramp up production, analysts said. "We consider this development could potentially translate into a re-rating of all the major energy-intensive companies in the country," NBK Capital said in a note.
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