Qatari equities rose to the highest in almost three weeks on light trading, tracking gains in global markets Friday that were fueled by the fading prospect of an increase in U.S. interest rates this year. Dubai's stocks declined. The QE Index climbed 0.5 percent to 11,514.12 at the close in Doha, the highest since Sept. 16. Real estate company Ezdan Holding Group led gainers with a 3.2 percent jump on more than twice its three-month average daily volume. The Bloomberg GCC 200 Index, made up of the region's biggest and most liquid shares, was little changed. That trimmed its 10-day volatility to 9.2 from this year's high of 51 on Aug. 30. The U.S. added fewer jobs than expected in September, raising speculation the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates near zero for the rest of the year and buoying demand for higher-risk emerging market assets. While most of the currencies of the six nations that make up the Gulf Cooperation Council are pegged to the U.S. dollar, Qatar's central bank said on Friday it wouldn't follow a Fed rate increase because of high liquidity in local banks. "The performance of Arab markets today reflects mixed sentiment regarding the timing of the Fed's impending rates increase and the absence of local catalysts, which is keeping trading activity at depressed levels," said Cairo-based Hesham Wafa, institutional sales trader at Mubasher Trade. Traders exchanged about 193 million Qatari riyals ($53 million) worth of shares traded, while Dubai's market saw about 289 million dirhams ($79 million) of stocks change hands, less than half both the market's one-year daily averages, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The probability of a Fed rates increase in 2015, which would be the first in almost 10 years, fell to 33 percent Friday, compared with 46 percent before the data and 58 percent just a month ago. The main stock gauges of Dubai and Abu Dhabi retreated 0.7 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively. In Saudi Arabia, the Tadawul All Share Index advanced 0.2 percent as of 3:04 p.m. in Riyadh, led by Al Rajhi Bank's 1.1 percent increase. Oman's measure advanced 0.2 percent, led by Oman Telecommunications Co.'s 0.9 percent gain after the company was added to investment bank EFG-Hermes Holding SAE's list of the Middle East and North Africa's top 20 equities. The gains also came after the central bank vowed to maintain the rial's peg to the dollar, following similar pledges by Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. Egypt's benchmark EGX 30 Index fell 0.6 percent. The Egyptian pound was unchanged at 7.8301 per dollar after the nation's central bank maintained its three-month-old peg to the dollar at a currency sale to local banks. Kuwait's measure retreated 0.2 percent and Bahrain's gauge decreased 0.4 percent.
