The Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) Index increased by 117.91 points, or 1.1% during the week to close at 10,652.31. Market capitalisation increased by 1.0% to QR571.4bn versus QR565.5 at the end of the previous week. Of the 44 listed companies, 23 companies ended the week higher, while 20 fell and one remained unchanged. Qatar Islamic Bank (QIBK) was the best performing stock for the week with a gain of 5.2% on 2.4mn shares traded. On the other hand, Qatar Islamic Insurance Co (QISI) was the worst performing stock with a decline of 3.5% on 19,512 shares traded only.
QIBK, QNB Group (QNBK) and Qatar Insurance (QATI) were the primary contributors to the weekly index gains. QIBK was the biggest contributor to the index’s weekly increase, adding 34.7 points to the index. QNBK was the second biggest contributor to the gain, contributing 30.2 points to the index. Moreover, QATI tacked on 14.2 points to the index. On the other hand, Qatar International Islamic Bank (QIIK) contributed negatively to the index, erasing 4.3 points from the index.
Trading value during the week decreased by 22.2% to reach QR1.1bn versus QR1.4bn in the prior week. The Banks and Financial Services sector led the trading value during the week, accounting for 51.9% of the total trading value. The Industrials sector was the second biggest contributor to the overall trading value, accounting for 16.2% of the total trading value. QIBK was the top value traded stock during the week with total traded value of QR250.2mn.
Trading volume decreased by 28.8% to reach 26.0mn shares versus 36.5mn shares in the prior week. The number of transactions decreased by 23.8% to reach 15,467 transactions versus 20,286 transactions in the prior week. The Banks and Financial Services sector led the trading volume, accounting for 41.8%, followed by the Real Estate sector, which accounted for 17.8% of the overall trading volume. Masraf Al Rayan (MARK) was the top volume traded stock during the week with total traded volume of 2.5mn shares.
Foreign institutions remained bullish during the week with net buying of QR168.1mn vs buying of QR178.6mn in the prior week. Qatari institutions turned bearish with net selling of QR14.3mn vs net buying of QR49.1mn the week before. Foreign retail investors remained bearish for the week with net selling of QR22.4mn vs net selling of QR29.6mn in the prior week. Qatari retail investors remained bearish with net selling of QR131.3mn vs net selling of QR198.2mn the week before. In 2016 YTD, foreign institutions bought (on a net basis) ~$606mn worth of Qatari equities.
QNB
