Qatar Shares Rise on Optimism Drop Overdone; Orascom Soars - Bloomberg.com

Qatar stocks rose, leading Gulf Arab markets higher, on speculation this month’s decline may have been overdone as economic growth picks up and global markets rallied as concerns over Europe’s debt crisis eased.

Industries Qatar, the second-biggest petrochemicals maker in the Middle East, surged the most in more than two months. In Abu Dhabi, Emirates Telecommunications Corp., the phone company known as Etisalat, gained after its long-term corporate credit rating was raised by Standard & Poor’s. Qatar’s QE Index gained 2.1 percent, the biggest advance since May 10, to 6,825.89. The gauge slumped 9.2 percent this month. The Bloomberg GCC 200 Index, which tracks 200 equities in the region, climbed 0.2 percent. Egypt’s EGX 30 Index surged 3.3 percent at 1:19 p.m. in Cairo.

“We continue to focus on international markets and oil, which were generally higher over the Thursday to Friday period,” said Ali Khan, head of cash-equity trading at Dubai- based Arqaam Capital Ltd. “Qatar was the worst performing market in the region month-to-date.”