The Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) Index declined 525.10 points, or 4.05%, during the trading week, to close at 12,453.76 points. Market capitalisation decreased by 3.34% to reach QR681.6bn compared to QR705.1bn at the end of the previous week. Of the 43 listed companies, 11 companies ended the week higher, while 31 fell and 1 remained unchanged. Qatar Cinema & Film Distribution Company (QCFS) was the best performing stock for the week, with a gain of 21.52% on only 0.1mn shares traded; the stock is up 43.64% year-to-date (YTD). On the other hand, Ooredoo (ORDS) was the worst performing stock, with a decline of 11.80% on 0.9mn shares traded; the stock is down 5.25% year-to-date (YTD).
ORDS, QNB Group (QNBK) and Masraf Al Rayan (MARK) were the biggest contributors to the weekly index decline. ORDS contributed 108.15 points off the index’s weekly decline of 525.10 points. QNBK was the second biggest contributor with a contribution of 89.76 points. Furthermore, MARK continued its declining trend and pushed the index down by 81.06 points. However, despite the recent decline, the stock has been one of the best performing stocks in 2014 year-to-date (YTD) with a price return of 63.58%.
On the other hand within the QSE Index, Qatar Insurance (QATI) and Gulf International Services (GISS) helped arrest the decline. QATI added 5.10 points to the QE Index. The stock has had a decent run in 2014, posting a price return of 50.38%. GISS also positively contributed 2.68 points to the index during the week. GISS is up 92.83% YTD in 2014.
Trading value during the week decreased by 22.08% to reach QR3.2bn vs QR4.0bn in the prior week. The banks and financial services sector led the trading value during the week, accounting for 39.11% of the total equity trading value. MARK was the top value traded stock during the week with total traded value of QR500.7mn.
Trading volume decreased by 33.29% to reach 66.7mn shares vs 100.0mn shares in the prior week. The number of transactions increased by 1.03% to reach 46,935 transactions versus 46,458 transactions in the prior week. The banks and financial services sector also led the trading volume, accounting for 29.70%. MARK was also the top volume traded stock during the week with total traded volume of 9.6mn shares.
Foreign institutions turned bearish during the week with net selling of QR132.6mn vs net buying of QR64.3mn in the prior week. Qatari institutions turned bullish with net buying of QR122.2mn vs net selling of QR71.2mn the week before. Foreign retail investors turned bearish for the week with net selling of QR28.0mn vs net buying of QR12.5mn in the prior week. Qatari retail investors turned bullish with net buying of QR38.7mn vs net selling of QR5.7mn the week before.