Business | Markets
World Cup pushes Qatar shares to a two-year high
Winning right to host tournament strengthens investor sentiment.
- Bloomberg
- Published: 00:00 December 6, 2010
- Image Credit: Reuters
- Qatar National Bank, the emirate’s biggest lender by assets, climbed to the highest in more than five years. “Sentiment is understandably flying extremely high,” said Akber Khan, a director at Al Rayan Investment in Doha.
Doha: Qatar's shares rose to the highest in two years, after the country won rights to host soccer's 2022 World Cup, becoming the first Arab nation to hold the world's most-watched sporting event.
Qatar National Bank, the emirate's biggest lender by assets, climbed to the highest in more than five years. Barwa Real Estate Co, Qatar's largest publicly traded property developer by assets, gained 6.2 per cent.
The QE Index rose 3.6 per cent to 8477.32 at the 12.30pm close in Doha, the highest since October 2008, after 19 shares advanced and one declined.
"Sentiment is understandably flying extremely high," said Akber Khan, a director at Al Rayan Investment in Doha.
"There will be a material impact on some companies as the government fast-tracks billions of dollars of spending. Banks, real estate and construction-related names would be among the key beneficiaries."
Qatar, projected by the International Monetary Fund to have the world's fastest-growing economy this year, plans to more than double the number of hotel rooms, build nine stadiums and refurbish three others and construct a rail and metro network for the tournament. The US estimates that the tournament is worth $5 billion (Dh18.3 billion) to the hosts.
Qatar National Bank jumped 4.5 per cent to 183.6 riyals, the highest since September 2005. Barwa Real Estate Co rose to 36 riyals, the highest since October 2009.
The country plans to spend $4 billion on the stadium construction and refurbishment programme. With summer temperatures approaching 50C, each facility will be designed with a solar-powered air-conditioning system. A new 200,000-population city called Lusail, north of the capital, is scheduled to be built over the next decade and will feature the stadium that hosts the World Cup final.
Qatar expects to construct a rail and metro network, costing more than $25 billion, in Doha and extending to cities outside the capital. It's also planning the longest bridge in the world to connect nearby Bahrain, and aims to open a new airport next year.
Football ruling body, the Federation Internationale de Football Association, or Fifa, announced that Qatar won the World Cup bid in Zurich on Thursday after competing with the US, Australia, Japan and South Korea. Russia was chosen to host the 2018 tournament.
Industries Qatar, the second-biggest petrochemicals maker in the Middle East, advanced 4.3 per cent to 135 riyals (Dh136).
Crude oil rose to the highest level in 25 months, with oil for January delivery settling at $89.19 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Friday.
Futures increased 6.5 per cent last week and 12 per cent this year. The six Gulf Arab nations, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE, supply about a fifth of the world's oil.
Bahrain's All Share Index gained 0.3 per cent and Kuwait's gauge increased 0.7 per cent. Oman's MSM30 Index advanced 0.5 per cent while Saudi Arabia's Tadawul All Share Index retreated 0.5 per cent at 12.42pm in Riyadh. Markets in the United Arab Emirates were closed yesterday for an Islamic holiday.
In North Africa, Egypt's benchmark stock index rose 0.9 per cent.
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