Most Gulf markets pull back, led by Qatar

Dubai: Most stock markets in the Gulf retreated on a wave of profit-taking on Tuesday, led by Qatar, where there was a pullback in some of the top stocks that had shot up before joining MSCI’s emerging market index last week.

The Doha benchmark fell 2.4 per cent as all but one of its components slid.

The profit-taking bout coincided with and was partly a response to fresh allegations, which Qatar has strongly denied, that corruption was involved in its success in winning the right to host the 2022 soccer World Cup.

Some of the market’s gains over the last few years have been based on the expected economic boost from infrastructure and tourism spending related to the tournament.

The Fifa official leading the internal investigation into how Qatar won the right to host the Cup announced on Monday that he would complete his probe next week and report back in July.

Many fund managers think an unprecedented Fifa decision to deprive Qatar of World Cup rights remains very unlikely, but some retail investors appeared less sanguine.

However, analysts believe Qatar’s economy is so strong and its natural gas resources so large that even if it lost the right to host the tournament, the impact on its economy and financial markets would be small.