The Qatar Exchange (QE) Index declined by 637.26 points, or 5.12%, during the trading week, to close at 11,816.50 points. Market capitalisation decreased by 5.54% to reach QR643.8bn as compared to QR681.6bn at the end of the previous week. Of the 43 listed companies, 7 companies ended the week higher, while 36 fell. Qatar General Insurance & Reinsurance (QGRI) was the best performing stock for the week, with a gain of 5.04% on only 30,290 shares traded. On the other hand, Qatar Cinema & Film Distribution Company (QCFS) was the worst performing stock, with a decline of 27.95% on only 17,730 shares traded; the stock is down 5.25% year-to-date (YTD). QCFS was the best performing stock in the prior week, with a gain of 21.52% on only 0.1mn shares traded.
QNB Group (QNBK), Masraf Al Rayan (MARK) and Industries Qatar (IQCD) were the biggest contributors to the weekly index decline. QNBK contributed 130.3 points off the index’s weekly decline of 637.26 points. MARK continued its declining trend and pushed the index down by 96.1 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 53.4%. IQCD was the third biggest contributor with a contribution of 67.4 points.
On the other hand within the QE Index, only Al Meera Consumer Goods Company (MERS) ended in positive territory. MERS was up only 0.65% week-over-week.
Trading value during the week decreased by 28.31% to reach QR2.3bn vs QR3.2bn in the prior week. The Banks & Financial Services sector led the trading value during the week, accounting for 47.59% of the total equity trading value. MARK was the top value traded stock during the week with total traded value of QR381.0mn.
Trading volume decreased by 32.43% to reach 45.1mn shares vs 66.7mn shares in the prior week. The number of transactions decreased by 33.6% to reach 31,168 transactions versus 46,935 transactions in the prior week. The Banks & Financial Services sector also led the trading volume, accounting for 36.63%. MARK was also the top volume traded stock during the week with total traded volume of 7.6mn shares.
Foreign institutions remained bearish during the week with net selling of QR197.2mn vs net selling of QR132.6mn in the prior week. Qatari institutions remained bullish with net buying of QR172.5mn vs net buying of QR122.2mn the week before. Foreign retail investors remained bearish for the week with net selling of QR30.0mn vs net selling of QR28.0mn in the prior week. Qatari retail investors remained bullish with net buying of QR54.9mn vs net buying of QR38.7mn the week before. Thus far in 2014, the QE has already witnessed net foreign portfolio investment inflow of ~$1.92bn.