DUBAI: Qatar’s bourse outperformed the region after the country’s top bank reported strong second-quarter results, while UAE markets continued to consolidate on declining volumes after a sharp rebound.

The Doha index rose 1.3 percent as most stocks gained. Industries Qatar was the main support, adding 2.3 percent.

Shares in mobile phone operator Ooredoo, which dropped 23 percent last month on profit-taking and concern about the conflict in Iraq, where the company earns a fifth of its revenue, continued to rebound and jumped 3.9 percent.

Qatar National Bank (QNB) published its second-quarter results on Tuesday, becoming the first local company to do so. Net profit rose 1.5 percent, coming slightly ahead of the expectations of analysts, who had forecast a 2.7 percent decrease.

However, shares in QNB, which had risen 1.7 percent ahead of Tuesday’s earnings report, slipped 0.1 percent on Wednesday.

Investors’ expectations for other stocks are also positive, even though Qatar’s profit growth is expected to lag that of the UAE. Some of the reasons for that are traditionally higher dividend payouts and lower leverage, said Amer Khan, senior executive at Shuaa Asset Management in Dubai.

“There is a level of certainty in cash flows in Qatar that you don’t necessarily find in the UAE because of Qatari companies’ lower leverage,” he said.

“The story in Qatar is long-term government spending.”

Shares in builder Arabtec fell 2.1 percent, after soaring 62 percent in the previous six sessions on what traders said was a flurry of short-covering that has now ended.