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Qatar makes it five gains in a row

Qatar's bullish run of form continued on Monday with the market's benchmark ending the day up more than one percentage point, its fifth consecutive session of gains.

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Dubai and Bahrain also closed higher, while Abu Dhabi and Oman both ended the day down, with Muscat's main index dropping for a second trading day after a seven-day rally.
Qatar's main index was helped by gains in Qatar Islamic Bank and Qatar International Islamic Bank.

Qatar Islamic Bank and Qatar International Islamic Bank rose 4.8 percent and 7.62 percent respectively, pushing the measure up 1.36 percent to 12,456.53 points.

Shares of Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) and Petrochemical Co. (PetroRabigh) led Saudi Arabia's main index to a higher close.

SABIC and PetroRabigh ended up 2.75 percent and 6.28 percent respectively. The benchmark closed 0.41 percent higher at 9,777.04 points.

"The market is rebounding, and moving higher driven by retail stocks, and that is why it is rising slowly," said Marwan Shurrab, senior trader at Shuaa Capital.

"The blue chip companies are losing and there is more interest in trading stocks due to the initial public offering (IPO) news."

Shares of Agility lifted Kuwait to a higher close.

Kuwait's index ended up 0.13 percent to 15,308.90, paced mainly by a 1.50 percent rise in Agility's shares.

The Kuwaiti logistics firm Agility said on Monday one of its units won three contracts worth $7.67 million to operate fuel facilities at US Air Force bases in Europe.

Shares of Dubai Investment Co. and Union Properties drove Dubai to a higher close.

Dubai Investment and Union Properties ended up 0.71 percent and 1.15 percent respectively. The Dubai benchmark gained 0.03 percent to 5,794.98 points.

"The markets in Dubai and Abu Dhabi are trying to consolidate at the moment... this may continue for the rest of the week," says Mohammed Yasin, managing director at Shuaa Securities.

Bahrain's main index closed 0.5 percent higher at 2,887.54 points.

Shares of Bank Dhofar and Bank Muscat dragged Oman's index to a lower close for a second trading day after a seven-day rally.

Bank Dhofar and Bank Muscat fell 5.57 percent and 0.53 percent. The benchmark ended down 0.55 percent at 11,941.63 points.

"People are shifting from investment and banking stocks to industrial shares," said Adel Nasr, local brokerage manager at United Securities.

"I think the market will continue to trade around the 12,000-point level for a few days," Nasr said.

Abu Dhabi's main index ended lower, paced by Emirates Telecommunications Corp. (Etisalat).

Shares of Etisalat fell 0.72 percent. The index ended down 0.07 percent to 5,107.98 points.

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