Despite multiple bank bail-outs, an economy in rude health and glowing analyst recommendations, Qatar’s stock market remains one of the region’s underperformers this year.

MSCI Barra’s Qatar index has gained only 9.5 per cent in 2009, compared to a 26 per cent gain in the MSCI GCC index and a near 60 per cent jump in the MSCI Emerging Markets index. Only Bahrain’s stock market has done worse in the Gulf.