The Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) Index gained 542.82 points, or 4.04%, during the week, to close at 13,985.98 points. Market capitalisation increased by 3.2% to reach QR742.6bn compared to QR719.4bn at the end of the previous week. Of the 43 listed companies, 31 companies ended the week higher, while 8 fell and 4 remained unchanged. Ooredoo (ORDS) was the best performing stock for the week, with a gain of 15.49% on 0.8mn shares traded; the stock is down 3.8% year-to-date (YTD). Qatar Cinema & Film Distribution Co (QCFS) was the worst performing stock, with a decline of 4.00% on only 3,143 shares traded. The stock is still up 19.7% YTD.
Masraf Al Rayan (MARK), Ooredoo (ORDS) and QNB Group (QNBK) were the biggest contributors to the weekly index gain. MARK contributed 129.1 points to the index’s weekly gain of 542.8 points. The stock has been one of the best performing stocks in 2014 YTD with a price return of 79.9%. ORDS also contributed positively to the index, adding 110.0 points; the stock has also been one of the worst performing stocks in 2014 YTD with a drop of 3.8%. QNB Group was the third biggest contributor, contributing 72.6 points.
On the other hand within the QSE Index, Industries Qatar (IQCD) and Qatar Islamic Bank (QIBK) ended in negative territory. IQCD ended the week shaving off 14.1 points off the index; the stock is up 13.8% YTD. Furthermore, QIBK also contributed negatively to the index by reducing 7.8 points; the stock is up 71.0% YTD.
Trading value during the week decreased by 29.0% to reach QR3.5bn vs QR4.9bn in the prior week. The banks and financial services sector led the trading value during the week, accounting for 49.8% of the total equity trading value. QNB Group (QNBK) and Masraf Al Rayan (MARK) were the top value traded stocks during the week with total traded value of QR457.4mn and QR363.6mn, respectively.
Trading volume decreased by 14.9% to reach 68.6mn shares vs 80.6mn shares in the prior week. The number of transactions fell by 20.9% to reach 32,119 transactions versus 40,604 transactions in the prior week. The banks and financial services sector also led the trading volume, accounting for 35.4%. Ezdan Holding (ERES) was the top volume traded stock during the week with total traded volume of 11.9mn shares.
Foreign institutions remained bullish during the week with net buying of QR34.9mn vs QR477.5mn in the prior week. Qatari institutions remained bearish with net selling of QR27.6mn vs net selling of QR303.4mn the week before. Foreign retail investors remained bearish for the week with net selling of QR14.8mn vs net selling of QR39.9mn in the prior week. Qatari retail investors turned bullish with net buying of QR6.9mn vs net selling of QR134.2mn the week before. Thus far in 2014, the QSE has already witnessed net foreign portfolio investment inflow of $2.4bn.