Qatar's bourse surged to a new one-month high on Wednesday on hopes of a possible index upgrade, and Egypt rose for a third day after blue chip Orascom Construction Industries beat forecasts. While most regional markets edged up, Renaissance Services weighed on Oman after its quarterly earnings tumbled. Heavy buying lifted Qatar's index as institutional buyers returned on hopes index compiler MSCI would upgrade the gas exporter to emerging market status in its June review.
Heavyweight Qatar National Bank climbed 2.4 percent amid a rights issue. "QNB is going up because investors are still waiting for the extra shares to be listed," said Hani Girgis, assistant chief dealer at Dlala brokerage. "Most technical indicators show that we are going up." The benchmark rose 1.2 percent to it highest level since April 14 and volumes hit a four-week high.
The index is expected to rise to 8,800 and then 9,000 points, providing liquidity remains high, Girgis added. Qatar Telecommunications climbed 1.9 percent to an all-time high and Qatar Islamic Bank rose 1.4 percent. Egypt's index closed 0.9 percent higher as top builder and fertiliser maker OCI rose 2.1 percent as its earnings soared 77 percent, beating estimates.
"Though volumes are still low, investor confidence rose after OCI posted its first-quarter results today," said Mohamed Shalaby, a trader with Cairo Capital Securities. In Oman, Renaissance dragged the index to a 10-week closing low, after first-quarter net profit tumbled 68 percent. The stock fell 6.1 percent. The index fell 1.1 percent, its lowest close since February 28. "The market is still attractive in terms of valuation and its performance has been lagging since beginning of the year," said Marwan Shurrab, from Gulfmena Alternative Investments.
Heavyweight Bank Muscat shed 1.9 percent. Kuwait's Zain weighed on the index as it fell 5.2 percent to a 10-month low after UAE telecoms operator Etisalat said it would not rebid for its Kuwaiti rival. The index ended 0.2 percent lower, as volumes hit a one-week high.
UAE markets edged higher with blue chips gaining on continued optimism the country would obtain emerging market status from MSCI. "The outlook for UAE is pretty positive, especially with blue chips that will be affected by the MSCI announcement - the most important catalyst the market is currently facing," said Marwan Shurrab, from Gulfmena Alternative Investments.
Dubai's index rose 0.1 percent and Abu Dhabi's benchmark gained 0.2 percent. In high activity, contractor Drake & Scull rose 2.9 percent hours before reporting a 21-percent earnings rise. Heavyweight Emirates NBD climbed 1.5 percent adler reports that the lender was moving to exchange two notes due in 2016 with a new seven-year facility. Dana Gas and Sorouh Real Estate gained 1.5 and 0.7 percent respectively.
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