By: Mahmoud Gamal 

Mubasher: Institutional and foreign investors focused their investments in mid-cap and blue-chip stocks listed on the Kuwaiti and Qatari bourses which rose on Monday, analysts told Mubasher.

The GCC bourses are expected to continue their sideways-to-bearish performance on Tuesday, amid investors’ anticipations of the oil prices’ trend ahead of the meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC partners on Wednesday over extending the output reduction deal, analysts noted.

Boursa Kuwait was backed on Monday by the decline of some stocks’ prices, as well as amendments made to the trading system to allow speculation on blue chips on a larger scale, capital market analyst Mohamed Saeed said.

The Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) saw the entry of some portfolio investors, in addition to the rise of blue chips included in the MSCI's emerging markets index, such as Masraf Rayan which rose 1.6%, he noted.

Some portfolio investors withdrew their liquidity from the UAE bourses and pumped it into the QSE which has increased investment opportunities, the analyst added.

The stability of oil prices and global stocks may push some investors to increase trades in GCC bourses which have become more attractive, Saeed said.

The markets will continue their fluctuations on Tuesday until the appearance of news related to listed companies, capital analyst Hamoud Al Azmi explained.

Translated by: Julian Nabil