QSE extends losses to 2nd day as local retailers book profit

By Santhosh V Perumal/Business ReporterThe MSCI upgrade and the inclusion of 10 stocks in its emerging market index appear not to have enthralled Qatar’s bourse, which yesterday saw a bearish spell continue for the second day.Local retail investors’ profit-booking mainly dragged the 20-stock Qatar Index (based on price data) by another 0.42% to 13,104.75 points.Opening weak, the market was on a winning note for the next 15 minutes to take the index close to the 13,200 levels, after which there was a long period of profit-booking with the index trading below 13,100 points. Buying interests once again manoeuvred the market to a positive trajectory, but strong selling was visible during the end that resulted in index to drop below 13,050. The market saw some last minute heavy buying leading the benchmark to settle above 13,100 points.Domestic institutions were seen to exert bearish pressure in the market, which is up 26.25% year-to-date.The index that tracks Shariah-principled stocks was the odd one out as it witnessed gains compared to declines in the other indices as trading volumes were on a trail.Overall, trading was skewed towards banks, telecom and realty equities.The 20-stock Total Return Index was down 0.42% to 19,542.01 points and the All Share Index (with wider constituents) by 0.61% to 3,331.18, while the Al Rayan Islamic Index gained 0.52% to 4,332.66. All the three indices factored in dividend income as well.Transport stocks fell 1.67%, followed by insurance (1.25%), industrials (0.96%), telecom (0.8%), banks and financial services (0.4%) and consumer goods (0.2%), whereas real estate gained 0.84%.More than 57% of the stocks were in the red with major losers being Industries Qatar, QNB, Ooredoo, Aamal Company, Ezdan, Commercial Bank, Nakilat, Gulf International Services, Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding and Qatar Insurance.However, Qatar Islamic Bank, Masraf Al Rayan, Doha Bank, International Islamic, Barwa, Mazaya Qatar, Vodafone Qatar, Salam International Investment, Widam Food, Al Khaleej Takaful and Qatari Investors Group bucked the trend.Market capitalisation shed 1.05%, or more than QR7bn, to QR734.35bn.Qatari retail investors turned net sellers to the tune of QR61.38mn against net buyers of QR46.85mn the previous day.Non-Qatari individual investors’ net profit-booking surged to QR45.66mn compared to QR10.26mn on Wednesday.However, domestic institutions turned net buyers to the extent of QR30.54mn against net profit-takers of QR68.29mn the previous day.Foreign institutions’ net buying rose to QR76.4mn compared to QR31.69mn on Wednesday.Total trading volume fell 13% to 23.31mn stocks, value by 14% to QR982.01mn and transactions by 18% to 9,598.The market witnessed a 52% plunge in the industrials sector’s trading volume to 2.03mn equities, 26% in value to QR151.29mn and 31% in deals to 2,044.The real estate sector’s trading volume plummeted 36% to 5.07mn shares, value by 29% to QR165.02mn and transactions by 38% to 1,964.The consumer goods sector saw its trading volume tank 20% to 1.15mn stocks while value rose 6% to QR81.19mn. Deals were down 6% to 807.The banks and financial services sector reported a 15% decline in trading volume to 5.57mn equities, 16% in value to QR346.09mn and 4% in transactions to 2,652.However, the telecom sector’s trading volume shot up 71% to 5.11mn shares, value by 24% to QR114.58mn and deals by 38% to 936.There was a 47% surge in the insurance sector’s trading volume to 0.88mn stocks even as value was down 5% to QR32.31mn. Transactions was up 1% to 367.The transport sector’s trading volume expanded 11% to 3.5mn equities and value by 2% to QR91.54mn, while transactions fell 9% to 828.