The Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) index lost 12.15 points, or 0.10%, during the week, to close at 12,121.08. Market capitalisation increased by 0.47% to reach QR645.39bn compared to QR642.36bn at the end of the previous week. Of the 43 listed companies, 14 ended the week higher, while 24 fell and 5 remained unchanged. Ahli Bank (ABQK) was the best performing stock for the week, with a gain of 6.52% on only 9,830 shares traded. On the other hand, Ezdan Holding Group (ERES) was the worst performing stock with a decline of 3.78% on 5.6mn shares traded.
ERES, Masraf Al Rayan (MARK) and Gulf International Services (GISS) were the primary contributors to the weekly index decline. ERES was the biggest contributor to the index’s weekly decrease, shaving off 56.20 points from the index. MARK erased 22.68 points from the index. Further, GISS shed another 7.86 points. On the other hand, QNB Group (QNBK) and Industries Qatar (IQCD) contributed positively to the index. QNBK and IQCD contributed 51.75 and 23.93 points to the index, respectively.
Trading value during the week decreased by 13.80% to reach QR1.32bn vs QR1.53bn in the prior week. The banks and financial services sector led the trading value during the week, accounting for 40.53% of the total. The industrials sector was the second biggest contributor to the overall trading value, accounting for 21.55% of the total. QNBK was the top value traded stock during the week with total traded value of QR230.0mn.
Trading volume decreased by 25.09% to reach 26.36mn shares vs 35.18mn in the prior week. The number of transactions decreased by 17.85% to reach 14,007 versus 17,051 in the prior week. The real estate sector led the trading volume, accounting for 35.44%, followed by the banks and financial services sector, which accounted for 24.17% of the overall trading volume. ERES was the top volume traded stock during the week with total traded volume of 5.6mn shares.
Foreign institutions remained bullish during the week with net buying of QR7.3mn vs net buying of QR161.1mn in the prior week. Qatari institutions turned bullish with net buying of QR197.7mn vs net selling of QR14.8mn the week before. Foreign retail investors remained bullish for the week with net buying of QR30.9mn vs net buying of QR31.9mn in the prior week. Qatari retail investors remained bearish with net selling of QR236.0mn vs net selling of QR178.4mn the week before.
In 2015 year to date, foreign institutions bought (on a net basis) $513mn worth of Qatari equities.
