QSE defies global gravity as index soars 464 points; Islamic index outperforms

The Qatar Stock Exchange started off the first week of 2023 with a big bang as its key index vaulted 464 points and capitalisation added more than QR24bn, making it the best performer in the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) region.
The foreign institutions were seen extremely bullish as the 20-stock Qatar Index shot up 2.87% this week which saw the Qatar Financial Centre view that post World Cup, opportunities galore for the non-oil private sector in view of expected permanent boost in tourism sector.
The strong bullish momentum in the Qatari bourse is notwithstanding the global fears of weaker oil demand due to the precarious outlook on China.
The Gulf institutions were increasingly net buyers this week which saw Commercial Bank opens nomination for its board of directors for 2023-25.
The Arab funds continued to be net buyers but with lesser intensity this week which saw Qatar Insurance opens nomination for 2023-25 board of directors.
The Islamic index was seen outperforming the other indices this week which saw Mekdam Holding start trading in the main market.
About 64% of the traded constituents extended gains to investors this week which saw a total of 1.64mn Masraf Al Rayan-sponsored exchange traded fund QATR worth QR4.07mn trade across 93 deals.
Trade turnover and volumes were on the increase in the main market this week, which saw as many as 0.02mn Doha Bank-sponsored QETF valued at QR0.22mn change hands across 23 transactions.
Market capitalisation was seen expanding QR23.71bn or 3.9% to QR631.93bn on the back of large and midcap segments this week which saw the industrials, consumer goods and banking sectors together constitute more than 90% of the total trade volume in the main market.
The Total Return Index zoomed 2.87% and All Share Index by 1.81% and All Islamic Index by 3.35% this week, which saw no trading of sovereign bonds this week, which saw Qatar industrials sector’s producers’ price index shrank 3.03% month-on-month in November 2022.
The industrials sector index soared 3.7%, real estate (3.2%), banks and financial services (1.83%), transport (1.29%) and telecom (1.28%); while insurance tanked 4.14% and consumer goods and services (0.68%) this week, which saw no trading of treasury bills.
Major gainers in the main market included Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding, Masraf Al Rayan, Mannai Corporation, Qamco, Qatar Islamic Bank, QIIB, Baladna, Qatar National Cement, Industries Qatar, QLM, Qatar Electricity and Water, Barwa, Untied Development Company and Ooredoo this week.
Nevertheless, Qatar General Insurance and Reinsurance, Doha Bank, Qatar Insurance, Inma Holding, Medicare Group and Ezdan were among the shakers in the main market. In the venture market, Al Faleh Educational Holding saw its shares depreciate in value this week.
The foreign funds turned net buyers to the tune of QR307.83mn compared with net sellers of QR33.02mn the week ended December 29.
The Gulf institutions’ net buying strengthened perceptibly to QR32.28mn against QR28.55mn the previous week.
However, local retail investors turned net sellers to the tune of QR283.94mn compared with net buyers of QR4.42mn a week ago.
The foreign individuals were net sellers to the extent of QR28.58mn against net buyers of QR11mn the week ended December 29.
The Arab individuals’ net profit booking gained noticeably to QR16.13mn compared to QR4.96mn the previous week.
The domestic institutions’ net selling shot up markedly to QR10.22mn against QR7.57mn a week ago.
The Gulf retail investors turned net sellers to the tune of QR1.24mn compared with net buyers of QR0.81mn the week ended December 29.
The Arab institutions’ net buying weakened marginally to QR0.01mn against QR0.77mn the previous week.
Total trade volume in the main market increased 23% to 439mn shares, value by 26% to QR1.56bn and deals by 36% to 57,649.
The venture market saw as many as 86,353 equities valued at QR0.11mn change hands across 12 transactions.