Al-Mansoori, along with other officials, discusses the positive developments taking place in the QSE.
The Qatar Stock Exchange, which will enter the global index complier MSCI’s ‘emerging’ market segment in June, has witnessed the return of many large investors, ahead of the advent of exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
This trend became one of the focal points at a meeting of managers of brokerage firms and representatives of the Qatar Financial Markets Authority and the Qatar Central Securities Depository.
The meeting exchanged views on the positive developments that have taken place on the QSE, with the index breaking the previous record closing value and hitting an all-time high.
This has been accompanied by unprecedented trading volumes, attributed in the main to the imminent MSCI EM index review which will result in the inclusion of a number of Qatari companies following the MSCI decision to upgrade the Qatari market from frontier to emerging market status.
The QSE key index has been ruling eight-year highs but failed to break the 13,000 resistance level. A 12-month streak has seen the blue chip index return 53.27%, whilst it has trebled in value since the lows in March 2009.
More than half of 43 listed companies have returned beyond 20% this year, with seven companies reporting share price gains of 50% to 150%.
The meeting unanimously concluded that prospering Qatari economy, the strong performance of listed companies, the general budget for 2014-15 and the commencement of many large government projects were all positive contributing factors behind the strong trading performance and upward momentum in the market.
ETFs were to have made a debut this week but some procedural delays has led to their postponement, according to sources.
To begin with, foreign debt-based and general index-based ETFs are set for launch, which will be followed by Islamic-index based ETFs by the end of summer as part of measures by the QSE to enhance the liquidity in the market.
“The procedures are yet to be finalised,” an official of the QSE said without detailing when ETFs would make its debut. It is learnt that their launch is imminent.
ETFs are mostly (but not exclusively) index-based open-ended funds that can be bought and sold as quickly and easily as ordinary shares on a stock exchange. They provide investors with the opportunity to access markets that were previously closed to them.
QSE chief executive Rashid bin Ali al-Mansoori thanked all those who attended the meeting and appreciated the efforts made by all parties, including regulators, brokers and government authorities, and their role in supporting the bourse to serve investors and provide impetus to the national economy.
