The Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) index decreased 42.83 points, or 0.42% during the trading week to close at 10,060.52. Market capitalisation increased by 0.63% to QR540.9bn versus QR537.5bn at the end of the previous week. Of the 44 listed companies, 16 ended the week higher, while 27 fell and one remained unchanged. Qatar First Bank (QFBQ) was the best performing stock for the week with a gain of 6.8% on 11.3mn shares traded. On the other hand, Ezdan Holding Group (ERES) was the worst performing stock with a decline of 11.15% on 5.5mn shares traded.
Ezdan Holding Group (ERES), Barwa Real Estate (BRES), and Ooredoo (ORDS) were the primary contributors to the weekly index decline. ERES was the biggest contributor to the index’s weekly decrease, deleting 153.1 points from the index. BRES was the second biggest contributor to the decline, shedding 7.7 points from the index. Moreover, ORDS shaved off 6.6 points from the index. On the other hand, QNB Group (QNBK) added 64.0 points.
Trading value during the week increased by 21.98% to reach QR1.25bn versus QR1.02bn in the prior week. The banks and financial services sector led the trading value during the week, accounting for 46.81% of the total. The real estate sector was the second biggest contributor to the overall trading value, accounting for 17.42% of the total. Masraf Al Rayan (MARK) was the top value traded stock during the week with total traded value of QR164.1mn.
Trading volume increased by 7.21% to reach 47.48mn shares versus 44.29mn in the prior week. The number of transactions increased by 13.06% to reach 14,735 versus 13,033 transactions in the prior week. The banks and financial services sector led the trading volume, accounting for 45.13%, followed by the real estate sector which accounted for 22.54% of the overall trading volume. QFBK was the top volume traded stock during the week with total traded volume of 11.3mn shares.
Foreign institutions turned bearish with net selling of QR17.2mn versus net buying of QR13.6mn in the prior week. Qatari institutions remained bullish with net buying of QR100.1mn versus net buying of QR58.7mn the week before. Foreign retail investors remained bearish with net selling of QR20.8mn versus net selling of QR7.3mn in the prior week. Qatari retail investors remained bearish with net selling of QR62.1mn versus net selling of QR65.0mn the week before.
In 2017 year-to-date, foreign institutions bought (on a net basis) $791mn worth of equities
The index closed slightly down by just over 0.4% but managed to stay above the 10,000; the current drop has not been as significant. As a result, we remain neutral on the index on weekly basis. Our support stays at the 9,700 mark and resistance at the 11,500 level.
Candlestick chart – A candlestick chart is a price chart that displays the high, low, open, and close for a security. The ‘body’ of the chart is portion between the open and close price, while the high and low intraday movements form the ‘shadow’. The candlestick may represent any time frame. We use a one-day candlestick chart (every candlestick represents one trading day) in our analysis.
Doji candlestick pattern – A Doji candlestick is formed when a security’s open and close are practically equal. The pattern indicates indecisiveness, and based on preceding price actions and future confirmation, may indicate a bullish or bearish trend reversal.
QNB
