The feel good factors of growth-oriented General Budget, MSCI upgrade by June and the first quarter earnings expectations helped surge the Qatar Stock Exchange and add more than QR40bn in capitalisation in the week.

Heavy demand, especially for insurance, realty, transport, consumer goods and telecom stocks, lifted the key 20-stock Qatar Index (based on price data) by a robust 3.45% to reach the pre-2008 crisis levels in the week.

In comparison, Abu Dhabi gained 5.05%, Dubai (4.79%), Bahrain (1.08%), Muscat (0.5%) and Kuwait (0.02%), whereas Saudi Arabia fell (0.52%).

QE is up 19.44% year-to-date against Dubai’s stupendous gains of 43.61%, Abu Dhabi (20.55%), Saudi Arabia (11.4%), Bahrain (10.68%) and Kuwait (0.32%), while Muscat fell 0.37%.

“The rally was further supported by expectations about first quarter results,” an analyst with a conventional brokerage house said.

Foreign institutions’ net buying with lesser intensity and considerably reduced net selling by local retail investors, helped the QSE maintain a bullish path in the week that saw QNB report 14% growth in net profit in the first three months of this year.

More than 88% of the stocks extended gains in the week that saw Aamal Company pin hopes on its advanced pipes and cast unit, which is slated to begin commercial production this year.

However, domestic institutions were seen to hurriedly square off their position in the week which featured a Boston Consulting Group report that said Qatar’s banks saw a 20% expansion in operating income in 2013 against 11% in the Gulf region’s banking industry.

Micro caps were seen to experience stronger buying interests in the week that saw Alijarah Equipment expand its fleet of heavy machineries and equipment, in view of its parent company Alijarah Holding entering new projects in fields of heavy equipment, transportation and logistics, supporting the Qatari economy.

The 20-stock Total Return Index gained 3.71%, All Share Index (comprising wider constituents) by 4% and Al Rayan Islamic Index by 8.19% in the week.

Of the 43 stocks, 38 advanced; while only five declined in the week. Ten of the 12 banks and financial services; all of eight consumer goods; seven of the nine industrials; all of the five insurers; three each of the four real estate and the three transport and all of the two telecom stocks closed higher in the week.

Insurance stocks appreciated 8.91%, followed by realty (7.28%), transport (7.09%), consumer goods (6.64%), telecom (4.63%), banks and financial services (3.43%) and industrials (2.02%) in the week.

Among the influential movers were QNB, Ezdan, Mazaya Qatar, Alijarah Holding, Ooredoo, Commercial Bank, Doha Bank, Qatar Islamic Bank, International Islamic, Masraf Al Rayan, Aamal Company, Gulf International Services, Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding, Nakilat, Milaha, Qatar Insurance, Qatar Islamic Insurance, Al Khaleej Takaful, Widam Food, Salam International Investment, Al Meera and Qatari Investors Group.

However, Industries Qatar, Barwa and al khaliji were seen to buck the trend.

The overall market trading volume surged and was largely skewed towards real estate, banks, telecom, industrials and consumer goods sectors in the week.

Market capitalisation expanded 6.09% to QR709.2bn. Micro, mid, large and small cap equities rose 11.67%, 5.41%, 3.57% and 3.34% respectively in the week.

Small, micro, large and mid cap stocks have gained YTD 25.44%, 20.65%, 17.43% and 16.55% respectively.

Foreign institutions’ net buying sunk to QR264.87mn against QR340.9mn the week ended April 3.

Local retail investors’ net selling plunged to QR25.86mn compared to QR191.63mn the previous week.

Domestic institutions’ net selling shot up to QR209.37mn against QR95.02mn the week ended April 3.

Non-Qatari individual investors’ net profit booking fell to QR30.27mn compared to QR53.45mn the previous week.

Total trading volume surged 89% to 176.61mn shares with the real estate sector accounting for 37.32% of the total, banks and financial services (21.36%), telecom (13.63%), industrials (12.35%), consumer goods (9.99%), transport (4.16%) and insurance (1.19%).

The trading volume of telecom, realty and consumer goods more than doubled to 24.08mn, 65.91mn and 17.64mn stocks respectively; transport zoomed 86% to 7.34mn, insurance by 79% to 2.1mn, banks and financial services by 51% to 37.72mn and industrials by 34% to 21.82mn.

Total stocks trading value expanded 59% to QR6.31bn with the banks and financial services sector constituting 25.87% of the total, real estate (25.63%), industrials (21.37%), consumer goods (15.15%), telecom (6.9%), transport (3.4%) and insurance (1.68%). The stocks trading value of telecom, realty and insurance more than doubled to QR435.07mn, QR1.62bn and QR106.15mn respectively; transport soared 88% to QR214.38mn, consumer goods by 66% to QR955.36mn, banks and financial services by 42% to QR1.63bn and industrials by 21% to QR1.35bn.

Barwa led the trading value with its stocks accounting for 9.3% of the total, followed by Mazaya Qatar (8.95%) and Qatari Investors Group (6.87%).

Total market transactions were up 7% to 46,542 with the industrials sector’s share at 32.65%, banks and financial services (26.5%), real estate (17.96%), consumer goods (12.86%), telecom (4.69%), transport (3.43%) and insurance (1.91%).

The telecom sector’s deals more than doubled to 2,183; insurance shot up 68% to 889; consumer goods by 56% to 5,986; banks and financial services by 48% to 12,333 and realty by 13% to 8,358; but those of industrials tanked 27% to 15,195 and transport by 2% to 1,598.

In the debt market, there was no trading of treasury bills and government bonds in the week.