Stocks News Mideast-Qatar ticks up from 3-mnth low; UAE mkts up Sunday, 22 January 2012 09:52

Qatar's index ticks up as investors pick up battered stocks, while UAE's markets also start the week on a positive note.

Doha's benchmark advances 0.2 percent to 8,477 points, lifting from Thursday's three-month low.

Investors cut positions last week after banks posted dividends below expectations.

Barwa Real Estate gains 0.5 percent and Doha Bank  rises 0.8 percent each, while most other stocks trade flat.

"The market will not be really active until the first company now says what dividend they are going to pay and that will give an indicator for people for their next move," says Ali Al Enin, equity trader at Qatar National Bank.

In Dubai's Union Properties jumps 4.6 percent in thin trade. The developer announced the appointment of Ahmad Khalaf Al Marri as acting general manager after the previous position holder, Khalid Al Jarwan, resigned, a bourse statement said.

Its chief executive last week said it reached a $1 billion debt deal with Emirates NBD.

UAE's markets edge higher in muted trading as investors await fourth-quarter earnings results.

Dubai's index climbs 0.3 percent to 1,331 points and Abu Dhabi's benchmark ticks up 0.07 percent to 2,339 points.

"Earnings seasons are hectic when companies prolong their disclosures... and that is the case almost always in the UAE, which is usually one of the anomalies that make us sometimes lag behind other stock market," says Talal Touqan, head of equity research at Al Ramz Securities.

Elsewhere, Oman's bourse gains 0.6 percent to 5,618 points, while Kuwait eases 0.03 percent to 5,797 points. (Reuters/ Nadia Saleem)