DOHA: Industries Qatar will be in focus on Thursday after its second-quarter results beat analysts' forecasts. The Gulf's second-largest chemical producer by market value made a second-quarter net profit of 1.4 billion riyals ($384.7 million). Analysts polled by Reuters had expected an average quarterly profit of 1.16 billion riyals. "The strong half-yearly net profits can be attributed principally to buoyant steel prices feeding through to good segmental profitability, with quarterly gross margins in the steel business reaching 41.5 percent," Industries Qatar said. Shares in IQ fell on Wednesday, but the stock is up 2.7 percent this week and hit a six-week intraday high on Tuesday. In Kuwait, speculation of a possible deal between telecom firms Zain and Abu Dhabi-listed Emirates Telecommunications Corp (Etisalat) continues. "There are rumours of a deal between Zain and Etisalat, but no one has come up with a price yet," says Shahid Hameed, Global Investment House head of asset management for the Gulf region. "Zain is stronger after selling most of its African assets - it has deleveraged its balance sheet and disposed of businesses that were difficult to manage." Zain equalled its highest close for 10 weeks on Wednesday. An industry source told Reuters that Etisalat had entered a non-disclosure agreement with Zain as it studies the Kuwait operator's assets. In Egypt, analysts are not expecting the benchmark index to make much headway in the near-term. "The market is unlikely to make headway over the Ramadan period and volumes should remain pitifully low," says Mike Millar, head of research at Naeem Holding. "There is risk to downside as periodic bad news dents people's conviction over a sustainable US recovery. Though in my view we are past the point of a double dip — it is more a slow long recovery from here." Gulf markets are expected to open little changed, in line with U.S. stocks as well-received global earnings fail to inspire investors, who remain concerned about the long-term recovery of the world economy. Oil fell for a second day on Thursday, approaching $82, as dollar strength kept a lid on prices, neutralizing the effect of upbeat U.S. employment data and a drop in the nation's crude inventories last week. Additional reporting by Patrick Werr
