After the historic agreement was announced on Tuesday, investors were steady for trade.
Qatar’s stock market rose sharply in Tuesday trade after GCC member states finally signed a declaration to end a three-year dispute during an annual summit in Saudi Arabia.
Investors and traders kept a close watch on news relating to the 41st session of the GCC summit held at the Maraya Hall in the kingdom’s Al-Ula governorate.
At the end of the session, the neighbouring Gulf states officially announced an end to the crisis, with all countries involved in the blockade on Qatar restoring full diplomatic ties and lifting the embargo on Doha.
The positive news was reflected directly on the stock market as investors rushed for trade just minutes after the market opened. The index surged immediately from 10,477 points to 10,664 points – the highest level of the day.
The Qatari index rose 1.8%, with all the sectoral indices trading in the green.
On Tuesday, the market closed with a 114% gain as the Qatar Stock Exchange (QE) index reached 10,618.39 points – the highest in a year. The General Index (GE) increased to 165%, adding some QR646 million.
Additionally, the market index increased to QR614 billion, which constitutes approximately 85% of Qatar’s GDP, experts told Doha News.
Read also: Qatari-Saudi deal to boost investor confidence in GCC region: experts
In the first trade after restoration of ties, the volume of shares traded increased to 370.3 million from 105.27 million and the value of shares increased to QR646.27 million from QR245.60 million.
Among the top gainers were Qatar Gas Transport Company (Nakilat) and Qatar Insurance which surged 3.5 percent and 2.9 percent respectively.
On the flip side, Qatar Cinema & Film Distributing fell 8 percent, while Qatar General Insurance & Reinsurance Company was down 3.7 percent, according to the QSE.
“No doubt that opening the borders with the neighboring Gulf countries is contributing to an economic recovery which is still in the process. This was translated in the stock market yesterday,” Economic Analyst, Ahmad Al Nuaimi, told Doha News.
“Solving the dispute opened doors for Qatari trades and local companies to reach other countries and compete in global markets.
“For the time being, 2021 is anticipated to be a positive year in Qatar as we expect economic stability and an increase in the oil price,” stated the economic analyst.
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