QSE treads flat path amid buying interests in five of seven sectors; Islamic equities outperform

The Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) treaded almost a flat path this week which otherwise saw the US Federal Reserve chose to maintain status quo on its benchmark rate.
The Gulf institutions were increasingly net buyers as the 20-stock Qatar Index settled mere 0.04% higher this week which saw Gulf International Services board approve the final merger agreement of its catering subsidiary Amwaj.
The insurance, telecom, industrials and transport notably witnessed higher than average demand in the main market this week which saw QTerminals, in which Milaha is an equity stakeholder, formally complete its acquisition of a majority stake in the Netherlands-based Kramer Holding.
The Gulf institutions were seen marginally bullish in the main bourse this week which saw Qatar Oman Investment Company disclose its exit from Muzn Oman Commercial Company.
The local retail investors’ substantially weakened net profit booking had its influence in the main market this week which saw Qatar Chamber disclose that the road transport sector reported five-fold jump to 444 companies during 2018-22.
The Gulf individuals’ lower net selling also had its say in the main bourse this week which saw Qatar’s retail inflation jump 2.38% year-on-year in July 2023.
The Islamic index was seen outperforming other indices in the main market this week which saw Qatar’s industrial production expand 1.6% in July 2023 on an annualised basis.
However, the domestic institutions were increasingly net profit takers in the main bourse this week which saw a total of 0.2mn Masraf Al Rayan-sponsored exchange-traded fund QATR worth QR0.44mn trade across 22 deals.
The foreign funds turned bearish in the main market this week which saw as many as 0.03mn Doha Bank-sponsored exchange-traded fund QETF valued at QR0.33mn change hands across 27 transactions.
Market capitalisation was down by a marginal QR0.05bn or 0.01% to QR605.24bn on the back of microcap segments this week which saw the industrials and banks together constitute about 59% of the total trade volume in the main bourse.
The Total Return Index added 0.04%, the All Islamic Index by 0.73% and the All Share Index by 0.09% this week, which saw no trading of sovereign bonds.
The insurance sector index shot up 3.14%, telecom (1.88%), industrials (1.43%), transport (1.42%) and real estate (0.37%); while consumer goods and services declined 1.31% and banks and financial services (0.97%) this week which saw no trading of treasury bills.
Major gainers in the main bourse included Milaha, Inma Holding, Qatar Insurance, Qatar Oman Investment, Doha Insurance, Medicare Group, Qatar Industrial Manufacturing, Qatar National Cement, Industries Qatar and Ooredoo. In the venture market, both Al Faleh Educational Holding and Mahhar Holding saw their shares depreciate in value this week.
Nevertheless, Qatari German Medical Devices, Meeza, GIS, Qatar Cinema and Film Distribution, Dukhan Bank, QIIB, Commercial Bank, Dlala, Salam International Investment, Beema, Mazaya Qatar, Gulf Warehousing and Nakilat were among the shakers in the main bourse.
The Gulf institutions’ net buying increased substantially to QR66.78mn against QR19.91mn the week ended September 14.
The Arab funds turned net buyers to the extent of QR0.21mn compared with net profit takers of QR0.4mn the previous week.
The local retail investors’ net profit booking declined significantly to QR25.06mn against QR74.28mn a week ago.
The Gulf individuals’ net selling weakened noticeably to QR0.94mn compared to QR7.18mn the week ended September 14.
However, the domestic institutions’ net selling increased considerably to QR26.96mn against QR11.46mn the previous week.
The foreign funds were net sellers to the tune of QR11.49mn compared with net buyers of QR50.42mn a week ago.
The Arab individuals turned net sellers to the extent of QR1.92mn against net buyers of QR5.32mn the week ended September 14.
The foreign individuals were net profit takers to the tune of QR0.61mn compared with net buyers of QR17.67mn the previous week.
The main market witnessed 31% shrinkage in trade volumes to 872.53mn shares, 36% in value to QR2.28bn and 22% in deals to 80,343 this week.
In the venture market, trade volumes more than tripled to 11.76mn equities and value more than doubled to QR13.36mn on 14% jump in transactions to 487.