* Qatar index stops at major chart barrier on 2008 peak

* Rumours of potential large investments lift Islamic banks

* Dubai, Abu Dhabi rise but remain below this month’s peaks

* Ahli United Bank lifts Bahrain’s bourse on merger talk

* Saudi’s Dar Al Arkan gains after Q1 results beat estimates

By Olzhas Auyezov

DUBAI, April 17 (Reuters) – Qatar’s bourse continued to
outperform the region on Thursday but failed to break through
major technical resistance. Ahli United Bank lifted Bahrain’s
stock market on news it might be sold or merge.

The Doha bourse closed up 0.8 percent at 12,551
points, retreating from an intra-day peak of 12,679 points, the
highest level since September 2005. It faces chart resistance at
12,637 points, its 2008 peak.

Islamic lenders contributed most to the increase: Masraf Al
Rayan rose 5.8 percent, Qatar International Islamic
Bank added 3.1 percent and Qatar Islamic Bank
(QIB) gained 2.7 percent.

The shares rose on speculation that Ezdan Holding Group
might look to buy stakes in more sharia-compliant
businesses, a fund manager investing in Qatar said.

Last month Ezdan, whose shares jumped their daily limit of
10 percent on Thursday, bought a stake of more than 20 percent
in Islamic investment firm Islamic Holding Group.
Early this month, The Peninsula newspaper quoted the company’s
chief executive as saying it would announce big investments in
two more listed sharia-compliant companies by June.

Also, QIB reported a 15 percent increase in first-quarter
net profit late on Thursday. The bank earned 335 million riyals
($92 million), slightly above the average estimate of eight
analysts polled by Reuters who had expected 328 million riyals.

UAE, BAHRAIN

Dubai’s index added 0.7 percent to 4,762 points on
moderate volume, remaining below this month’s peak of 4,840
points.

“It is probably because of a lack of catalysts,” Amer Khan,
senior executive officer at Shuaa Asset Management, said of the
lower trading activity in recent days.

Dubai Islamic Bank contributed most to the move,
adding 3.2 percent as the bourse officially raised the cap on
foreign ownership of its stock to 25 percent from 15 percent.

Thomson Reuters data shows investors from outside the Gulf
increased their holdings to 10.3 percent of shares on Thursday
from 10.1 percent on Wednesday while Gulf investors from outside
the United Arab Emirates still held 4.8 percent.

Some analysts believe index compiler MSCI will include Dubai
Islamic Bank in its emerging market index at the end of May,
though it was absent from the provisional list of constituents
published last year.

Modest gains posted by most blue chips ahead of
first-quarter earnings reports lifted Abu Dhabi’s bourse 0.5
percent to 5,157 points, close to the eight-year closing peak of
5,172 points which it hit last Thursday.

Ahli United Bank (AUB), Bahrain’s biggest lender,
single-handedly lifted the local bourse’s index by 0.7
percent. The move came after several bankers familiar with the
situation told Reuters on Wednesday that AUB was evaluating a
sale or a merger with a rival bank in a potential $5 billion
deal.

The bank said on Thursday it could not comment, but the
report suggested the possibility of consolidation in the
Bahraini banking sector that could benefit the whole industry.
The central bank has been encouraging mergers in the sector.

AUB shares listed on the Bahrain stock exchange
jumped 3.2 percent; the shares cross-listed in Kuwait
were up 0.9 percent. Shares in the bank’s Kuwaiti subsidiary
rose 1.5 percent.

Saudi Arabia’s bourse added 0.3 percent. Property
developer Dar Al Arkan jumped 3.5 percent after it
reported a 4.3 percent increase in first-quarter net profit on
Thursday, beating analysts’ forecasts.

The kingdom’s largest listed property developer made a net
profit of 247.9 million riyals ($66.1 million) in the quarter
while three analysts polled by Reuters had expected, on average,
a profit of 222.3 million riyals.

THURSDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS

QATAR

* The index rose 0.8 percent to 12,551 points.

DUBAI

* The index gained 0.7 percent to 4,762 points.

ABU DHABI

* The index climbed 0.5 percent to 5,157 points.

SAUDI ARABIA

* The index added 0.3 percent to 9,531 points.

EGYPT

* The index rose 0.3 percent to 8,104 points.

KUWAIT

* The index slid 0.9 percent to 7,451 points.

BAHRAIN

* The index rose 0.7 percent to 1,389 points.

OMAN

* The index added 0.3 percent to 6,844 points.
($1 = 3.7503 Saudi Riyals)

(Editing by Andrew Torchia)