Iran fears extend Qatar fall, Oman, Kuwait close higher

Qatar's index surrendered early gains to close down for a sixth consecutive session, as concerns over heightened tensions with Iran sparked institutional selling before the bell.

Iran test-fired nine missiles on Wednesday and warned the United States and Israel it was ready to retaliate if they attacked the Islamic Republic over its disputed nuclear programme.

Qatar Gas Transport Co (Nakilat) and Qatar Telecommunications Co (Qtel) led the decline, falling 4.04 percent and 3.47 percent respectively.

Qatar's index closed 0.87 percent lower at 11,751.10 points.

"There was a lot of institutional selling in the last 15 minutes of trading," said Amro Motasim, head trader at Ahli Bank.

"The bottom line is that investors don't feel good about the market," he added, referring to the effect of Iran tensions.

Shares of Qatar National Bank rose 0.64 percent having led the index higher early on, after it posted a 70.6 percent surge in second-quarter profit on Wednesday.

Shares of Qatar International Islamic Bank fell 1.82 percent a day after it reported first-half net profit rise to 350.8 million rials compared to 209.7 million in the corresponding period last year.

"It's surprising it went down. People thought it would go up...the jump took place before earnings were released," said Amro Motasim, head trader at Ahli Bank.

Banking stocks drove Muscat's main index higher, after the central bank said on Wednesday the combined net profit of Omani banks surged 55.5 percent to 112.9 million rials ($291.28 million) in the first five months of 2008 compared with the year earlier.

Shares of Bank Muscat and Bank Dhofar closed 1.87 percent and 1.49 percent higher respectively.
The index climbed 0.08 percent to 11,718.18 points, after falling for the first time in seven trading days on Wednesday.

"You can't call it a recovery because it is not supported by volumes," said Adel Nasr, local brokerage manager at United Securities.

Oman is the Gulf Arab region's best-performing stock market and is up nearly 30 percent so far this year.

Selling by local investors dragged Dubai's main index lower by over 1 percent and real estate stocks weighed on Abu Dhabi, as the market gave up earlier gains.

Shuaa Capital tumbled 6.53 percent and Dubai Financial Market slipped 2.37 percent to lead the index lower by 1.07 percent to 5,347.84 points.
Shuaa's decline is "in line with bearish sentiment", said Anne Marie Browne, foreign institutional sales at Al Futtaim HC Securities.

Interest by local investors was focused on Ajman Bank, which accounted for 58 percent of total trading volume, she said. The bank's shares closed 1.53 percent higher.

The UAE capital's index ended 0.19 percent lower at 4,996.50 points led by Sorouh Real Estate which fell 1.84 percent and Aldar Properties which dropped 1.98 percent.

First Gulf Bank ended 3.32 percent higher after the bank topped forecasts with a 70 percent surge in second-quarter profit on Wednesday.

"The bank's performance has been phenomenally outstanding," said Mohammed Alami of Naeem Shares & Bonds.

Shares of Aabar Investments closed 2.56 percent higher after the company said on Wednesday that its shareholders would vote next month on plans to issue convertible bonds worth up to 6.7 billion dirhams ($1.82 billion) to a strategic investor.

"Aabar's news is positive for the stock as it is up for massive financial support," Alami said.

Kuwait's main index closed 0.8 percent higher at 14,895.40 points, boosted by shares of National Bank of Kuwait which rose 2.22 percent after it raised its full-year profit forecast after a record quarter.

The index rise bucked a trend of six consecutive lower closes. Shares of Gulf Bank were up 5 percent.

Bahrain National Bank helped the Manama index to a higher close after it said on Wednesday it made 26 million dinars ($68.97 million) in the first six months of the year, up 144 percent compared with the year-earlier period.

The bank ended up 0.61 percent as the index inched up 0.2 percent to 2,848.97 points, ending higher for the first time in four trading days.

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