Oman’s Renaissance
Services hit a near three week high on Monday as investors picked up the
battered stock while other regional bourses edged higher in thin trade ahead of
a long religious holiday, taking support from hopes there may be further
measures in the United States to help the economy.
The oil services
firm jumped 6.1 percent, up for a fifth consecutive session. The stock had
plummeted to a 2009-low after it discovered financial fraud at unit Topaz and
reported a 77-percent drop in first-half net profit. Investors believe the
sell-off was overdone.
“Interest in
Renaissance Services picked up with the accumulation strategy of medium-to-long
term investors,” said Kanaga Sundar, Gulf Baader Capital Markets head of
research.
Banks also helped
the index , which ended 1.1 percent higher at a four-week high. Analysts say
local pension funds and foreign funds have come back strong in Oman and the
bourse is expected to continue its uptrend.
Bank Muscat gained
1.3 percent and Bank Sohar climbed 2.7 percent. “We do remain positive on
Omani banks with valuations remaining attractive,” Sundar added.
Most Gulf bourses
have recovered losses spurred by a US credit rating downgrade on August 5 by
Standard & Poor’s, and are now back to levels prior to the ratings cut.
Elsewhere, Dubai’s
index gained 1.2 percent, its highest close since Aug. 4. but volumes remained
low.
Retail-driven stocks
were among the most active, with Emaar Properties rising 1.8 percent, Drake
& Scull advancing 1.3 percent and low-cost carrier Air Arabia adding 1.3
percent.
Meanwhile Abu
Dhabi’s benchmark ended on a near four-week high, closing 0.5 percent up. Dana
Gas and Aldar Properties accounted for half of the total shares traded on the
index, gaining 1.8 and 2.5 percent respectively.
Gulf markets took
support from global stocks, which jumped almost one percent on Monday while the
dollar struggled after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke left the door open
for further action to stimulate the US economy and fight unemployment. He said
the central bank’s policy panel would meet for two days in September instead of
one to discuss additional monetary stimulus, offering some hope to investors.
“People don’t
want to take long positions before the Eid holiday,” said Rami Sidani,
Schroders Middle East head of investment. “We expect international events
to continue to price performance in our markets, especially [in] places like
UAE and Saudi Arabia.”
Masraf Al Rayan
helped lift Qatar’s index which ended 0.8 percent higher, also at a near-four
week high. The investment firm rose 0.4 percent, accounting for nearly half of
the shares traded. Other financial stocks also rose with Commercial Bank of
Qatar gaining 1.3 percent and Qatar National Bank rising 0.8 percent.
Kuwait’s index ended
near-flat, edging higher for a fourth straight day.
Gulf markets are
closed from Aug. 30 for Eid Al Fitr, the celebration that marks the end of the
Muslim month of fasting. Most bourses will resume trade on Sept. 4, with Saudi
Arabia’s market restarting on Sept. 3.
Bahrain’s bourse
holiday is conditional on the first day of Eid, and will be closed for three
trading days.
Monday’s highlights
Oman: the index rose
1.1 percent to 5,767 points.
Dubai: the index
advanced 1.2 percent to 1,492 points.
Abu Dhabi: the
measure climbed 0.5 percent to 2,616 points.
Qatar: the benchmark
gained 0.8 percent to 8,352 points.
Kuwait: the
benchmark edged higher 0.07 percent to 5,791 points.
Bahrain: the measure
eased 0.2 percent to 1,258 points.
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