(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Qatar Exchange index gained 15.26 points or 0.13 percent when the bourse closed trading at 11,992.61 points yesterday. The market capitalisation increased to QR644.44bn form QR643.78bn registered on Tuesday.
The traded value increased to QR414.18m with a volume of 10,267,251 shares from 5,307 transactions compared to QR368.36m with a volume of 8,888,357 shares from 5,525 transactions on Tuesday. Indices of four sectors advanced and three dropped.
Of the 43 companies listed, shares of 39 saw trading. From these, 19 advanced, 19 declined and one remained unchanged.
Meanwhile, most major stock markets in the Middle East rose modestly after Saudi Arabia and its allies in the region decided to end a campaign of air strikes against Houthi rebels.
The fighting did unsettle some retail investors in the Gulf and Egypt, and stock markets across the region fell by several percent in the days after the military campaign began.
Saudi Arabia's index inched up 0.1 percent to 9,572 points, although it closed well off its intra-day highs, struggling for a fourth day in a row to break through major technical resistance in the 9,572-9,745 point area, where the 200-day average roughly coincides with the March peak.
Zain Saudi surged 4.8 percent after announcing its first-quarter loss had narrowed to SR257m ($68.5m) from SR318m a year earlier. Saudi Basic Industries rose 0.9 percent and property developer Jabal Omar, another main support for the benchmark, climbed 1.1 percent. But Mobily, which posted a surprise first-quarter loss on Tuesday and tumbled 6.8 percent on that day, retreated 2.2 percent further.
A number of other stocks also declined on profit-taking after rising sharply this week on news that the kingdom would open the market to direct foreign investment from June 15.
Dubai's index climbed 0.3 percent to 4,133 points as most stocks gained. Real estate firm Union Properties jumped 3.5 percent to Dh1.50, a five-month closing high. Dubai's benchmark is approaching major chart resistance on its 200-day average, now at 4,259 points. It has not traded above that level on a sustained basis since last October.
Abu Dhabi's index rose 0.6 percent and First Gulf Bank (FGB) was the main support, jumping 2.3 percent. Egypt's index climbed 0.6 percent, after declining for five sessions in a row.
HIGHLIGHTS
SAUDI ARABIA: The index inched up 0.1 percent to 9,572 points.
DUBAI: The index edged up 0.3 percent to 4,133 points.
ABU DHABI: The index added 0.6 percent to 4,706 points.
EGYPT: The index edged up 0.6 percent to 8,629 points.
KUWAIT: The index slipped 0.02 percent to 6,307 points.
OMAN: The index added 0.3 percent to 6,351 points.
BAHRAIN: The index edged up 0.4 percent to 1,400 points.
Reuters
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