Qatari stocks resume weekly gaining trend, up 300 points

QATARI stocks regained an upward trend as the Qatar Stock Exchange QSE index returned to the green zone in the fourth week of January.

The QSE Index rose by 299.59 points, or 2.8 percent, during the week to close at 11,110.1 points. The week saw QSE’s market capitalisation increase by 2. percent to QR 30.3 billion compared with QR 14.3 billion at the end of the previous trading week.

Foreign institutions turned bullish, closing the week with net buying of QR157.5 million against net selling of QR92.3 million in the previous week.

Foreign retail investors also closed the week with net buying of QR25. million against net buying of QR15. million in the previous week.

According to an estimate by QNB Financial Services QNBFS , as of Thursday’s closing, global foreign institutions were net buyers of Qatari stocks worth 29. million since the start of the current financial year.

Qatari institutions, however, turned bearish with net selling of QR135.8 million against net buying of QR28.4 million in the week before.

Qatari retail investors also recorded net selling of QR47.2 million against net buying of QR48.4 million the week before.

Commercial Bank of Qatar CBQ , QNB roup QNB , and Qatar Islamic Bank QIB were the primary contributors to the weekly index gain. CBQ and QNB added 92.53 and 87. 0 points to the index, respectively. Further, QIB contributed another 7.00 points.

The traded value during the week decreased 12. percent to QR2,323.2 million from QR2, 57.9 million in the previous trading week. Masraf Al Rayan was the top-value traded stock during the week with a total traded value of QR3 1.1 million.

Traded volume during the week declined 5.4 percent to 77.7 million shares compared to 71 .7 million shares in the previous trading week. The number of transactions fell 23.5 percent to 74,022 against 9 ,738 in the previous week.

Masraf Al Rayan was the top volume traded stock during the week with a total traded volume of 118. million shares.

CBQ was the best-performing stock for the week, climbing 12.9 percent. Meanwhile, ad Holding was the worst-performing stock for the week, falling 5. percent.

f the 49 traded companies, 32 closed the week higher, 1 ended lower and one remained unchanged.

Tamer Hassan, a financial analyst, described the QSE’s trading during the current week as positive, pointing out that the index exceeded a level of more than 11,000 points, compared to last week’s trading, despite the sharp fluctuations in transactions up and down.

In a statement to QNA, Hassan said that this week witnessed an increase in the purchase of Qatari portfolios against an increase in the sale of foreign portfolios, bringing more to the movement of the market which also benefited from more than-expected distributions announced by some listed companies.

The Commercial Bank’s high dividend distribution, for example, contributed to an increase in trading for two consecutive sessions, he said.

He added these developments in the stock market during this period were the engine that helped the index to exceed the barrier of 11,000 points, along with the decisive role for dividend distributions recommended to some general assemblies.

The financial analyst pointed out that the profits disclosed by companies so far were above the expected level and will reflect on the performance of the stock exchange in the coming period.