Qatar Bucks Gulf’s Negativity

Qatari stocks surged Wednesday as bucking a downward trend in Gulf Arab markets triggered by fears over the fortunes of troubled Dubai World. Qatar Telecom rocketed 7.9 per cent, Industries Qatar surged 6.6 per cent, Qatar National Bank finished up 6.4 per cent and Qatar Gas Transport (Nakilat) increased by 5 per cent.

Kuwaiti Mobile telephone firm Zain was one of the main factors behind Kuwait's decline after news that Indian state-owned telecommunications firm, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) had put its plan to buy into the company on hold. Zain ended down 1 per cent after see-sawing between a gain and a loss of as much as 6 per cent during the session which saw the index end 1.4 per cent lower at 6,651 points.

"Kuwait is following its own fundamentals which are not so good at the moment," said Shakeel Sarwar, head of asset management at Sico Investment Bank in Bahrain.
"The Zain issue has been a major drag on the Kuwait market in the last three months, and there is still downward pressure on its share price".

Bahrain ended marginally lower with only a few stocks traded. The index closed down 0.12 per cent at 1,437 points.