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Gulf markets get week off to strong start

Gulf markets, save for Saudi, posted a blistering start to the week on Sunday with Dubai and Doha leading the pack as investors piled into stocks that were left trading at attractive valuations after the recent, region-wide equity selloff.

The Dubai Financial Market’s benchmark index leapt 0.92% on the back of strong performances by Emaar Properties and lender Emirates NBD, while Doha surged more than 2% thanks to dramatic rises in the share price of telecom Qtel and Qatar Islamic Bank.
Investors had been left almost devoid of confidence in markets at the turn of the first quarter as markets plunged, some posting their largest single-day losses in months due to uncertainty about the health of the global economy.

But investors have subsequently found reason to snap up beaten down stocks, with Gulf markets building a strong bullish trend into the close of last week’s trading.

Emirates NBD moved 2.28% higher after announcing plans to start a consumer finance company, while Emaar, the largest company by market capitalisation in the region, climbed 0.44%. The Dubai index rose 0.92% to close on 5,516.13.

Abu Dhabi also moved slightly higher after Aldar Properties continued its four day climb on the back of news it will begin a new development called Motor World. The real estate giant rose 1.85% while First Gulf Bank kicked in 1.75% to lift the benchmark 0.29% to 4,772.96 points at the close.

Doha posted the biggest gains of the day, skyrocketing 2.14% to a close of 9,949.99 points, with Qatar Islamic Bank and Qtel advanced 6.36% and 3.28% respectively.

Over in Kuwait, positive sentiment returned with the benchmark briefly touching a new all-time high of 14,542.5 during intraday trading before retreating slightly to end up 0.14% on 14,521.6 points. Ahli United Bank led the charge, closing 3.03% higher.

The banks also helped out in Bahrain with Gulf Finance House posting a 5.36% gain to lift the index almost a full percentage point. Manama’s benchmark finished on 2,862.19 points for the day.

Shares of Omani telecom Omantel and Oman Cement kicked in 1.61% and 4.12% respectively to see Muscat’s benchmark finish the day in the black. The index gained 0.95% to close on 10.544.67 points.

After a huge start to the trading week in Saudi Arabia, where a recalculation of the market index soar it skyrocket almost 2.5%, the main index retreated on Sunday, slipping 1.08% to 9,307.06 points.

The index was the day's only loser in the Gulf, snapping two previous sessions of gains.

The top 10 stocks by market value all fell, with Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) declining 1.75% and Al-Rajhi Bank shedding 0.86%.

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