GCC Market Analytics: November GCC Index Review

Historically, November has been a poor month for GCC equity markets and this year was no different. Five of the seven GCC indices fell during November with Dubai and Abu Dhabi posting the biggest losses. The Muscat 30 Index managed to eek out a small gain for the month but the only significant gainer was the QE Index, rising 4.44%.

The Qatar market has been the stand out performer in 2010 with the QE Index now up 17% for the year. With Thursday's announcement that Qatar will host the 2022 World Cup it will be interesting to see how that market finishes 2010. Will it rally into the year end on the back of this news? Or is it a a case of "buy the rumour, sell the news" for the Qatar market?

Volume across the GCC markets in November was generally lower than in October. However, the low volume can be attributed to the Eid holiday which kept markets closed for a week during the middle of November.

[ Click to enlarge ]

* username: rupertbu