Weekly Market Report

The Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) index gained 48.49 points, or 0.47%, during the week to close at 10,438.45. Market capitalisation inched up by 0.8% to QR562.6bn versus QR558.1bn at the end of the previous week. Of the 44 listed companies, 14 ended the week higher, while 30 fell. Qatar Cinema & Film Distribution Co (QCFS) was the best performing stock for the week with a gain of 8.4% on 9,510 shares traded only. On the other hand, Medicare (MCGS) was the worst performing stock with a decline of 8.7% on 923,567 shares traded.
Trading value during the week increased by 8.3% to reach QR901.8mn versus QR832.7mn in the prior week. The banks and financial services sector led the trading value during the week, accounting for 37.4% of the total trading value. The industrials sector was the second biggest contributor to the overall trading value, accounting for 19.4% of the total. Qatari Investors Group (QIGD) was the top value traded stock during the week with total traded value of QR101.5mn.
Trading volume decreased by 4.9% to reach 22.7mn shares versus 23.9mn in the prior week. The number of transactions increased by 19.4% to reach 12,835 versus 10,751 in the prior week. The banks and financial services sector led the trading volume, accounting for 33.0%, followed by the telecoms sector, which accounted for 20.8% of the overall trading volume. Vodafone Qatar (VFQS) was the top volume traded stock during the week with total traded volume of 4.4mn shares.
Foreign institutions remained bullish during the week with net buying of QR283.7mn versus net buying of QR181.8mn in the prior week. Qatari institutions remained bearish with net selling of QR191.5mn versus net selling of QR134.3mn the week before. Foreign retail investors turned bearish for the week with net selling of QR3.2mn versus net buying of QR5.4mn in the prior week. Qatari retail investors remained bearish with net selling of QR89.0mn versus net selling of QR53.0mn the week before.
In 2016 year-to-date, foreign institutions bought (on a net basis) $1.8bn worth of Qatari equities.