Tensions in the region have sent oil prices soaring, though neither nor QAT nor UAE is as heavily exposed to the energy sector as investors might expect. For example, UAE allocates 68.4% of its weight to the financial services sector while devoting just 5.3% to energy stocks, according to iShares data.
QAT is down 0.84% today, which looks when compared to UAE, but the Qatar ETF has not been angel this month, tumbling more than 10%. QAT has come under pressure amid allegations of bribery and graft relating to the country winning host nation status for the 2022 World Cup.
Although FIFA has yet to confirm that Qatar will lose the 2022 World Cup, speculation is so rampant to that effect that one British bookmaker stopped taking bets on Qatar’s tenuous host nation status because some betters were wagering five-figure amounts on the possibility of another country replacing Qatar as the host.
That speculation along with the violence in Iraq has tainted a solid start for QAT, which surged in late May after Qatari policymakers boosted foreign ownership limits for Doha-listed stocks. Qatari banks are viewed as the strongest GCC financial institutions with the possible exception of their Saudi Arabian counterparts. [Qatar ETF Soars as Foreign Ownership Limits Rise]
iShares MSCI UAE Capped ETF
