The Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) index declined by 163.65 points, or 1.38%, during the week, to close at 11,698.86. Market capitalisation fell by 1.55% to reach QR637.7bn compared to QR647.8bn at the end of the previous week. Of the 43 listed companies, 23 ended the week higher, while 19 fell and 1 remained unchanged. Islamic Holding Group (IHGS) was the best performing stock for the week, with a gain of 31.95% on 2.1mn shares traded; the stock is up 2.17% year-to-date (YTD). On the other hand, QNB Group (QNBK) was the worst performing stock with a decline of 6.81% on 1.0mn shares traded; the stock is down 10.71% YTD.
QNB Group (QNBK), Qatar Islamic Bank (QIBK) and Gulf International Services (GISS) were the biggest contributors to the weekly index decline. QNBK was the biggest contributor to the index’s weekly decline with 141.1 points to the index’s weekly decline of 163.65 points. QIBK contributed 22.9 points, while GISS contributed 18.5 points to the decline. On the other hand, Barwa Real Estate (BRES), Ezdan Holding Group (ERES) and Doha Bank (DHBK) positively contributed to the QSE Index. BRES contributed 34.6 points closely followed by ERES (10.4 points) and DHBK (10.1 points).
Trading value during the week decreased by 3.0% to reach QR2.8bn vs. QR2.9bn in the prior week. The real estate sector led the trading value, accounting for 35.0% of the total. The banks and financial services sector was the second biggest contributor to the overall trading value, accounting for 34.0%. BRES was the top value traded stock during the week with total of QR703.1mn.
Trading volume increased by 22.5% to reach 58.4mn shares vs. 47.7mn in the prior week. The number of transactions fell by 0.9% to reach 31,964 versus 32,261 in the prior week. The real estate sector led the trading volume, accounting for 49.6%, followed by the banks and financial services sector, which accounted for 23.3% of the overall trading volume. BRES was also the top volume traded stock during the week with total of 15.8mn shares.
Foreign institutions remained sellers during the week with net selling of QR11.7mn vs. net selling of QR133.3mn in the prior week. Qatari institutions turned bearish with net selling of QR131.8mn vs. net buying of QR187.2mn the week before. Foreign retail investors remained bullish for the week with net buying of QR21.1mn vs. net buying of QR2.0mn in the prior week. Qatari retail investors turned bullish with net buying of QR122.6mn vs. net selling of QR55.6mn the week before. In 2015 YTD, foreign institutions sold (on a net basis) $98.2mn worth of Qatari equities.
