Qatar’s shares declined a second day this week on
speculation optimism over economic growth and company earnings from the
country’s win to host the World Cup in 2022 may have been overdone. Dubai’s
index slipped.
Barwa Real Estate Co, the nation’s biggest publicly traded
property developer by assets, retreated 1 percent and Industries Qatar dropped
to the lowest in almost two weeks. The QE Index slid 0.5 percent to 8,772.67,
the lowest since Dec. 13, at the 12:30 p.m. close in Doha. Qatar’s benchmark
index has soared 7.2 percent since the country was awarded on Dec. 2 the right
to host the World Cup soccer tournament. Dubai’s DFM General Index dropped 0.8
percent, led by Emaar Properties PJSC.
“This is a healthy correction,” said Hany Girgis, assistant
chief dealer at Dlala’ Brokerage & Investment Holding Co. “The market will
return to gains on confidence over government spending on infrastructure.”
The $81bn Qatari economy will expand 16 percent this year,
the world fastest-growing, from 8.6 percent in 2009, the International Monetary
Fund said in its World Economic Outlook report in October. Moody’s Investors
Service estimates it will spend about $57bn over the next decade for
infrastructure developments related to the World Cup.
Qatar doesn’t have plans to sell bonds to cover the
tournament’s cost, prime minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jasim Bin Jaber Al Thani
said on Tuesday. The country plans to more than double the number of hotel
rooms, build nine stadiums and refurbish three others as well as construct a
rail and metro network for the tournament.
Barwa retreated to 38.9 riyals, the
lowest since December 6. Industries Qatar, the second-biggest petrochemicals
maker in the Middle East, decreased 1.2 percent to 133.5 riyals, the lowest
since December 2.
Emaar lost 2 percent to the lowest since September 5.
Chairman Mohamed Alabbar said the developer of the world’s tallest tower in Dubai
may raise its stake in Amlak Finance as part of a solution for the troubled
Islamic mortgage lender.
Kuwait’s measure gained 0.6 percent. Abu Dhabi’s measure
decreased 0.4 percent and Oman’s market declined 0.1 percent. Saudi Arabia’s
Tadawul All Share Index slipped 0.4 percent at 1:05 p.m. in Riyadh. Bahrain’s
market was closed for a holiday.
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