The banks and transport counters witnessed higher than average profit booking pressure as the 20-stock Qatar Index tanked 2.88% this week which saw Moody's upgrade the long-term issuer ratings of QatarEnergy, Industries Qatar (IQ) and Qatar General Electricity and Water.
The foreign funds were seen net sellers this week which saw Hamad, Doha and Al Ruwais ports handled in excess of 103,000 TEUs this January, 39% of which were transshipment containers.
The Gulf institutions continued to be net profit takers but with lesser vigour in main market this week which saw Nakilat report net profit of QR1.56bn during 2023.
As much as 81% of the traded constituents were in the red in the main bourse this week which saw Aamal Company's subsidiary Aamal Medical sign a new strategic partnership with Austco Healthcare.
The domestic funds were seen increasingly into net buying in the main market this week which saw Qatar register a 12% month-on-month jump in trade surplus to QR18.73bn in December 2023.
The local retail investors turned net buyers in the main bourse this week which saw Lesha Bank through its subsidiary acquire multifamily residential property 'Alta Federal Hill' building in Baltimore in the US.
The Arab individuals turned bullish in the main market this week which saw a total of 0.06mn Masraf Al Rayan-sponsored exchange-traded fund QATR worth QR0.15mn trade across 23 deals.
Six of the seven sectors reeled under selling pressure in the main bourse this week which saw as many as 0.01mn Doha Bank-sponsored exchange-traded fund QETF valued at QR0.04mn change hands across seven transactions.
The Islamic index was seen declining slower than the other indices in the main market this week which saw the banks and industrials together constitute about 65% of the total trade volumes.
Market capitalisation eroded QR14.99bn or 2.5% to QR585.59bn on the back of small and midcap segments this week, which saw no trading of sovereign bonds and treasury bills.
Trade volumes and turnover were on the decline in both the main bourse and junior market this week, which saw the Qatar Financial Centre Authority sign a memorandum of understanding with Meeza, the leading provider of managed IT services and solutions in Qatar, to foster sustained growth within country’s tech ecosystem.
The Total Return Index plummeted 2.88%, the All Share Index by 2.68% and the All Islamic Index by 2.07% this week, which saw a Kamco Invest report that highlighted total value of contracts awarded in Qatar increased by 29.1% year-on-year to $19bnn during 2023.
The banks and financial services sector index shot up 3.87%, transport (3.29%), telecom (1.61%), consumer goods and services (1.08%), industrials (1.07%) and real estate (0.88%); while insurance was up 0.07% this week which saw Qatar's producers' price index shrink both on monthly and yearly basis in December.
Major losers in the main market included Widam Food, Commercial Bank, Nakilat, Masraf Al Rayan, Medicare Group, QNB, Qatar Islamic Bank, QIIB, Lesha Bank, Qatari German Medical Devices, Mekdam Holding, Industries Qatar, Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding, Mazaya Qatar, Ezdan, Ooredoo and Vodafone Qatar. In the venture market, Mahhar Holding saw its shares depreciate in value this week which saw Dlala Holding liquidate Dlala Information Technology.
Nevertheless, Qatari Investors Group, Zad Holding, Qatar Insurance, United Development Company and Qatar Islamic Insurance were among the gainers in the main market this week which saw Inma Holding register net profit of QR10.3mn during 2023.
The foreign funds turned net sellers to the tune of QR36.04mn compared with net buyers of QR86.86mn the week ended January 25.
However, the domestic institutions’ net buying increased drastically to QR30.02mn against QR10.65mn the previous week.
The Qatari individuals were net buyers to the extent of QR26.97mn compared with net sellers of QR44.76mn a week ago.
The Arab individuals turned net buyers to the tune of QR12.62mn against net sellers of QR11.55mn the week ended January 25.
The foreign individual investors’ net buying increased perceptibly to QR10.31mn compared to QR3.99mn the previous week.
The Gulf retail investors were net buyers to the extent of QR0.3mn against net profit takers of QR0.33mn a week ago.
The Gulf institutions’ net selling eased marginally to QR44.18mn compared to QR45.86mn the week ended January 25.
The Arab institutions had no major net exposure for the second consecutive week.
The main market witnessed a 38% contraction in trade volumes to 680.33mn shares, 32% in value to QR2.18bn and 28% in deals to 76,403 this week.
In the venture market, trade volumes plummeted 50% to 1.08mn equities, value by 43% to QR1.51mn and transactions by 31% to 135.
