The Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) remained under bearish spell this week which otherwise saw mixed trends in the global markets amidst the concerns over the US debt ceiling.
The foreign institutions were increasingly net profit takers as the 20-stock Qatar Index lost 0.91% or 98 points this week which saw MSCI include Dukhan Bank under Qatar’s midcap index.
The Arab individuals turned net profit takers this week which saw MSCI reclassify Masraf Al Rayan and Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding under midcap from large cap segment.
About 56% of the traded constituents were in the red this week which saw Doha Bank restructure operations in Abu Dhabi by merging its operations with Dubai branch.
The Islamic equities were seen declining faster than the other indices this week which saw Nakilat liquefied natural gas carriers deliver 198 cargoes of estimated volume of 20.3mn metric tonnes with 100% reliability.
The transport, real estate, consumer goods and insurance counters witnessed higher than average selling pressure this week which saw Aamal Company to expand its exports to wider region, including Asia.
The Gulf institutions’ weakened net buying had its influence in the main market this week which saw Qatar’s consumer price index inflation fall 0.03% month-on-month in April 2023.
The domestic institutions continued to be net sellers but with lesser intensity this week which saw which saw Qatar’s industrial production index surge 4.8% year-on-year in March 2023.
The local individual investors also continued to be bearish but with lesser vigour this week which saw a total of 0.87mn Masraf Al Rayan-sponsored exchange-traded fund QATR worth QR2.13mn trade across 48 deals.
The Gulf retail investors were seen lesser into net selling this week which saw as many as 0.04mn Doha Bank-sponsored exchange-traded fund QETF valued at QR0.43mn change hands across 37 transactions.
Market capitalisation was seen eroding QR0.41bn or 0.07% to QR628.6bn on the back of microcap segments this week which saw the banking and real estate sectors together constitute more than 57% of the total trade volume in the main market.
The Total Return Index shrank 0.91%, the All Share Index by 0.51%, and the All Islamic Index by 1.28% this week, which saw no trading of sovereign bonds.
The transport sector index plummeted 2.88%, realty (2.81%), consumer goods and services (1.16%), insurance (0.98%) and industrials (0.48%); while telecom gained 0.75% and banks and financial services (0.02%) this week which saw no trading of treasury bills.
Major losers in the main market included Nakilat, QLM, Barwa, Mazaya Qatar, Commercial Bank, United Development Company, Masraf Al Rayan, Baladna, Qatar Electricity and Water, Beema, Gulf Warehousing and Milaha. In the venture market, Al Faleh Educational Holding saw its shares depreciate in value this week.
Nevertheless, Dlala, Qatari German Medical Devices, Inma Holding, Widam Food, Lesha Bank, QNB, Doha Bank, Dukhan Bank, Medicare Group, Gulf International Services, Estithmar Holding and Qamco were among the gainers this week.
The foreign institutions’ net selling increased substantially to QR115.03mn compared to QR32.52mn the week ended May 11.
The Arab retail investors were net sellers to the tune of QR19.66mn against net buyers of QR6.6mn the previous week.
The foreign individuals’ net profit booking grew perceptibly to QR2.3mn compared to QR1.36mn a week ago.
The Gulf institutions’ net buying declined markedly to QR205.52mn against QR218.99mn the week ended May 11.
However, the domestic funds’ net selling decreased significantly to QR23.07mn compared to QR102.32mn the previous week.
The local retail investors’ net profit booking shrank drastically to QR43.63mn against QR78.39mn a week ago.
The Gulf individuals’ net profit booking weakened noticeably to QR1.84mn compared to QR10.91mn the week ended May 11.
The Arab institutions had no major net exposure against net sellers to the tune of QR0.09mn the previous week.
The main market witnessed a 24% contraction in trade volumes to 1.1mn shares and 3% in value to QR3.1bn but on 8% jump in deals to 108,937.
