Qatar Stocks Advance on Improving Earnings, Oil; Kuwait Index Declines

Qatar stocks rose for a third day, led by Industries Qatar and Commercial Bank of Qatar, as European stocks rallied on improving earnings and oil advanced for the first time this week.

Industries Qatar, the second-biggest petrochemicals maker in the Middle East, climbed to the highest in a month after Securities & Investment raised its share recommendation. Commercial Bank, which reported a 23 percent profit increase earlier this week, rose to the highest since May. The QE Index gained 0.2 percent to 7,029.45 at the close, bringing the monthly advance to 1.9 percent. The Bloomberg GCC 200 Index added 0.3 percent.

“The earnings announced so far are considered another positive reason for traders to start building up positions at current market prices,” said Mohamed Abu Ghoush, head of equity brokerage at Al-Ahli Bank in Doha.

Qatar National Bank SAQ , the country’s biggest lender by assets, said on July 6 second-quarter profit rose 36 percent. The QE Index’s gain in July, the biggest monthly increase since March, has left the 20 companies in the benchmark gauge valued at 11.3 times reported earnings. That compares with 15.7 for the regional Bloomberg GCC 200.

European stocks rose as improving earnings from Telefonica SA to Cap Gemini SA outweighed a Federal Reserve report that showed growth slowed in some areas of the economy. U.S. index futures gained. Crude oil advanced 0.3 percent to $77.25 a barrel at 2:05 in Doha today.

May 20

Industries Qatar increased 0.9 percent to 99.8 riyals, the highest since June 28. Securities & Investment raised the shares to “buy” from “add” with a six-month share-price estimate of 129 riyals.

Commercial Bank gained 1.2 percent to 70.3 riyals, the highest since May 20. The country’s second-biggest lender by assets beat analysts’ estimates as it reported second-quarter net income of 408 million riyals ($112 million) on July 27.

Oman’s MSM 30 Index increased 0.5 percent and Bahrain’s gauge rose 0.2 percent. The Dubai Financial Market General Index and Abu Dhabi’s measure lost less than 0.1 percent, while Kuwait’s SE Price Index retreated 0.2 percent. Saudi Arabia’s market was closed for the weekend.

To contact the reporter on this story: Zahraa Alkhalisi in Abu Dhabi at zalkhalisi@bloomberg.net Claudia Maedler in Dubai at cmaedler@bloomberg.net

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