By: Mahmoud Gamal

Mubasher: Institutional and Gulf traders in Qatar’s bourse started to pump their liquidity into mid-cap and blue-chip stocks listed on the UAE and Saudi markets, following the cut of diplomatic relations with Qatar, analysts told Mubasher.

Qatar’s stock market declined for the third session in a row, weighed down by the country's diplomatic tie-break with its Middle Eastern neighbours.

The markets are expected to continue their volatile performance on Thursday, amid monitoring the current rift in the Persian Gulf and its impact on commercial relations among all parties to the conflict, analysts said.

The UAE bourses saw a positive performance as some stocks reached attractive prices and Gulf portfolio investors liquidated their stocks on the Qatari bourse to pump investments into UAE stocks, financial expert Hussein Al Zawi explained.

The UAE markets were also backed by the news that Emaar plans to offer up to 30% of its UAE property development business through an initial public offering (IPO) on Dubai’s bourse, the analyst added.

The Saudi market is witnessing the entry of some portfolio investors in line with the approach of MSCI’s decision to announce on 20 June whether it will add Saudi Arabia to its Emerging Markets (EM) Index, Al Zawi noted.

Unstable oil prices and global stocks may push investors to be cautious and shy away from trading, Al Zawi added.

Translated by: Julian Nabil