Oct. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Qatar shares rose the most in more than two weeks after United Development Co. said earnings more than quadrupled and oil advanced for a third week. Israel’s benchmark index climbed to the highest close since August.
United Development, the Qatari real-estate and energy investor, surged the most in more than seven years. Qatar Electricity & Water Co., the Middle East’s second-biggest utility by market value, rallied 2.9 percent before financial results scheduled for this week. Qatar’s QE Index rose 0.8 percent, the most since Oct. 6, to 8,432.86 at the 1 p.m. close in Doha. The Bloomberg GCC 200 Index climbed 0.4 percent and Israel’s TA-25 Index rose 1.8 percent.
Qatar’s “earnings are good, which has been good for medium to long-term investors,” said Nabil Farhat, a partner at Abu Dhabi-based Al Fajer Securities.
Qatar National Bank SAQ, the country’s biggest bank by assets, this month posted a 31 percent gain in third-quarter profit on higher income from lending. Qatar, the host of the 2022 soccer World Cup and biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas, expects economic growth of about 16 percent in 2011 and projects a budget surplus of $6.1 billion this fiscal year.
United Development shares soared 10 percent, the biggest increase since July 2004, to 20.91 riyals. Nine-month profit surged to 1.8 billion riyals ($494 million) from 443.6 million riyals a year earlier.
SMN Power Holding SAOG jumped 3.1 percent to 3.63 rials on the first day of trading of the venture between International Power Plc, Mubadala Development Co. and Oman’s National Trading Co.
Qatar Electricity shares rose the most since May 11 to 143.5 riyals. The utility may report a 16 percent increase in third-quarter earnings to 424 million riyals, according to the median estimate of three analysts on Bloomberg.
Crude rose 0.7 percent to $87.40 a barrel in New York last week. The contract has surged 10 percent the past three weeks. Gulf Arab oil exporters, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, supply about a fifth of the world’s oil.
The DFM General Index dropped 0.2 percent. About 32 million shares traded in the emirate today, compared with this year’s daily average of 108 million shares. Abu Dhabi’s ADX General Index decreased 0.1 percent.
“The U.A.E. markets are quiet as they await earning disclosures,” Al Fajer’s Farhat said.
National Bank of Abu Dhabi PJSC, the second-biggest bank by assets in the U.A.E. said after the markets closed third- quarter profit rose 12 percent to 1.03 billion dirhams ($280 million). The shares didn’t trade today, and gained 0.5 percent to 10.05 dirhams on Oct. 20.
Oman’s gauge and Kuwait’s measure climbed 0.2 percent, while Bahrain’s BB All Share Index was little changed. Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index advanced 0.5 percent. In North Africa, Egypt’s EGX30 climbed 0.8 percent.
Israel’s TA-25 Index rose to 1,143.14. Israeli government bonds fell, with the yield on the benchmark 5.5 percent Mimshal Shiklit notes due January 2022 rising two basis points, or 0.02 of a percentage point, to 4.72 percent.
--With assistance from Ahmed A. Namatalla in Cairo. Editors: Claudia Maedler, Shaji Mathew
To contact the reporter on this story: Zahra Hankir in Dubai at zhankir@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Maedler at cmaedler@bloomberg.net
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