QSE inches towards 10,700 levels as Islamic stocks outperform

A higher than average demand in telecom, real estate and industrials counters Monday led Qatar Stock Exchange gain more than 73 points and its key index inched towards 10,700 levels.
The Gulf institutions were seen increasingly into net buying as the 20-stock Qatar Index rose 0.69% to 10,695.04 points.
The market, which was skewed towards gainers, touched an intraday high of 10,751 points.
The Arab individual investors were seen bullish in the main market, which turned black year-to-date by posting 0.13% gains.
More than 69% of the traded constituents extended gains to investors in the main bourse, whose capitalisation saw QR6.18bn or 1.01% jump to QR617.44bn, mainly on account of mid and small cap segments.
The foreign retail investors were increasingly net buyers in the main market, which saw a total of 0.03mn exchange traded funds (sponsored by Masraf Al Rayan and Doha Bank) valued at QR0.2mn changed hands across 26 deals.
The local retail investors’ weakened net selling had its influence in the main bourse, which saw no trading of sovereign bonds.
The Islamic index was seen outperforming the other indices in the main market, which saw no trading of treasury bills.
The Total Return Index rose 0.69%, All Share Index by 0.67% and Al Rayan Islamic Index (Price) by 1.17% in the main bourse, whose trade turnover and volumes were on the decline.
The telecom sector index soared 2.63%, real estate (2.31%), industrials (1.34%), banks and financial services (0.33%), consumer goods and services (0.25%) and transport (0.01%); while insurance declined 0.95%.
Major gainers in the main market included Mannai Corporation, Lesha Bank, Mazaya Qatar, Salam International Investment, Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding, Dukhan Bank, Alijarah Holding, Medicare Group, Industries Qatar, Gulf International Services, Qamco, Barwa, Ezdan, Ooredoo and Gulf Warehousing.
Nevertheless, Qatar Cinema and Film Distribution, Zad Holding, Qatar Insurance, Beema, Estithmar Holding and Nakilat were among the losers in the main market. In the venture market, Al Faleh Educational Holding saw its shares depreciate in value.
The Gulf institutions’ net buying increased markedly to QR15.76mn compared to QR3.54mn on March 2.
The foreign retail investors’ net buying expanded noticeably to QR4.01mn against QR0.19mn the previous trading day.
The Arab individual investors turned net buyers to the tune of QR3.5mn compared with net sellers of QR2.5mn last Thursday.
The local individual investors’ net profit booking decreased considerably to QR0.33mn against QR10.08mn on March 2.
The domestic funds’ net selling weakened perceptibly to QR28.83mn compared to QR36.38mn the previous trading day.
The Gulf retail investors’ net profit booking eased marginally to QR0.48mn against QR0.93mn last Thursday.
However, the foreign institutions’ net buying shrank substantially to QR6.39mn compared to QR46.14mn on March 2.
The Arab institutions continued to have no major net exposure for the third straight session.
The main market saw a 4% shrinkage in trade volumes to 146.77mn shares, 18% in value to QR411.49mn and 10% in deals to 14,604.