Qatar markets strengthened Monday, with the country-specific exchange traded fund testing its long-term moving average, as investors jumped on companies set to hand out dividends.
The iShares MSCI Qatar Capped ETF (NasdaqGM: QAT), the lone Qatar equity-related ETF, rose 2.7% Monday and broke above its long-term, 200-day simple moving average.
Qatar’s equity market surged Monday, outperforming the rest of the region for a second day as investors dived into dividend-paying stocks ahead of distributions, reports Andrew Torchia for Reuters.
“A number of stocks look set to continue the rally during 2018, especially as some now have more than 6 percent dividend yield”, Akber Khan, Senior Director-Asset Management Group, Al Rayan Investment told The Peninsula.
Qatari companies are known for their high dividend yields and are set to announce fourth-quarter or annual dividends in the next few weeks. Furthermore, yields are expected to be higher this time around after the drop in stock prices in response to the economic embargo imposed by its Arab neighboring states.
QAT shows a 4.16% 12-month yield. However, the ETF typically distributes a sizable dividend in June.