The Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) index gained 104.67 points or 1.23% during the trading week to close at 8,630.67. Market capitalisation increased by 1.07% to QR477.7bn versus QR472.7bn at the end of the previous trading week. Of the 45 listed companies, 35 ended the week higher, while eight declined and two remained unchanged. Ahli Bank (ABQK) was the best performing stock for the week with a gain of 25.2% on 15.9k shares traded. On the other hand, Commercial Bank of Qatar (CBQK) was the worst performing stock for the week with a decline of 5.2% on 323k shares traded.
Masraf Al Rayan (MARK), Qatar International Islamic Bank (QIIK) and Medicare Group (MCGS) were the primary contributors to the weekly index gains. MARK was the biggest contributor to the index’s weekly increase, adding 57.2 points. QIIK was the second biggest contributor to the mentioned gains, adding 12.9 points. Moreover, MARK added 11.9 points to the index. However, CBQK shed 20.6 points from the index.
Trading value during the week decreased by 31.3% to reach QR866.1mn versus QR1.26bn in the prior week. The banks and financial services sector led the trading value during the week, accounting for 38.1% of the total trading value. The real estate sector was the second biggest contributor, accounting for 18.6 % of the total trading value. MARK was the top value traded stock during the week with total traded value of QR87.8mn.
Trading volume increased by 2.52% to reach 61.9mn shares versus 60.4mn shares in the prior week. The number of transactions decreased by 39.0% to reach 15,610 versus 14,609 transactions in the prior week. The banks and financial services sector led the trading volume, accounting for 31.2%, followed by the real estate sector which accounted for 28.6% of the overall trading volume. Qatar First Bank (QFBQ) was the top volume traded stock during the week with 4.8mn shares.
Foreign institutions remained bullish with net buying of QR10.3mn versus net buying of QR45.8mn in the prior week. Qatari institutions remained bearish with net selling of QR17.4mn versus net selling of QR59.2mn in the week before. Foreign retail investors turned bullish with net buying of QR11.3mn versus net selling of only QR37k in the prior week. Qatari retail investors turned bearish with net selling of QR3.9mn versus net buying of QR13.4mn the week before.
In the first few days of 2018, foreign institutions bought (on a net basis) $5.8mn worth of Qatari equities.
The index ended the week higher by 1.23% compared to the week before; now it is at 8,630.67.The index maintained its strength and indicators are moving in tandem with the Index’s movement; meaning the momentum in the current upswing may continue further. Our expected support remains around the 7,500 level and the 9,000 remains as our immediate resistance level on the weekly chart.
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
