Gulf Times - Gulf Times Business
Weekly Market Report
The Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) index gained 233.86 points, or 2.26%, during the trading week to close at 10,598.40. Market capitalisation increased by 1.2% to QR595.3bn versus QR588.4bn at the end of the previous trading week. Of the 45 listed companies, 34 companies ended the week higher, while nine declined and two remained unchanged. Qatar German Co for Medical Devices (QGMD) was the best performing stock for the week with a gain of 14.8% on 308,785 shares traded only. On the other hand, Qatar Cinema & Film Distribution Co (QCFS) was the worst performing stock for the week with a decline of 7.0% on 3 shares traded only.
Masraf Al Rayan (MARK), Qatar Islamic Bank (QIBK) and Barwa Real Estate Co (BRES) were the primary contributors to the weekly index gain. MARK was the biggest contributor to the index’s weekly gain, adding 60.6 points to the index. QIBK was the second biggest contributor to the mentioned gain, tacking on 34.3 points to the index. Moreover, BRES contributed 33.3 points to the index. On the other hand, QNB Group (QNBK) deleted 22.6 points from the index.
Trading value during the week decreased by 40.0% to QR1.2bn versus QR2.1bn in the prior week. The banks and financial services sector led the trading value during the week, account- ing for 48.6% of the total trading value. The real estate sector was the second biggest contributor to the overall trading value, accounting for 16.6% of the total trading value. QNBK was the top value traded stock during the week with total traded value of QR207.4mn.
Trading volume decreased by 32.1% to reach 42.9mn shares versus 63.2mn shares in the prior week. The number of transactions decreased by 27.1% to 24,782 transactions versus 34,001 transactions in the prior week. The banks and financial services sector led the trading volume, accounting for 36.7%, followed by the Real estate sector which accounted for 28.3% of the overall trading volume. Mazaya Qatar (MRDS) was the top volume traded stock during the week with 5.7mn shares.
Foreign institutions remained bullish with net buying of QR234.7mn versus net buying of QR166.9mn in the prior week. Qatari institutions remained bearish with net selling of QR11.3mn versus net selling of QR49.9mn in the week before. Foreign retail investors turned bearish with net selling of QR19.7mn versus net buying of QR2.4mn in the prior week. Qatari retail investors remained bearish with net selling of QR203.6mn versus net selling of QR119.3mn the week before.
Foreign institutions bought (net basis) $2.4bn worth of Qatari equities year-to-date.