Weekly Market Report
The Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) Index gained 523.69 points, or 4.05%, during the week, to close at 13,465.69 points. Market capitalisation increased by 3.9% to reach QR726.5bn compared to QR699.4bn at the end of the previous week. Of the 43 listed companies, 35 companies ended the week higher, while 7 fell and 1 remained unchanged. Mazaya Qatar Real Estate Development (MRDS) was the best performing stock for the week, with a gain of 10.2% on 4.2mn shares traded; the stock is up 107.0% year-to-date (YTD). Qatari German Co for Medical Devices (QGMD) was the worst performing stock, with a decline of 6.2% on 0.5mn shares traded; the stock is down 11.7% YTD.
Industries Qatar (IQCD), QNB Group (QNBK) and Gulf International Services (GISS) were the biggest contributors to the weekly index gain. IQCD contributed 134.38 points to the index’s weekly gain of 523.69 points. QNBK contributed 78.19 points to the weekly index gain. GISS was the third biggest contributor, contributing 58.97 points; the stock has also been one of the best performing stocks in 2014 YTD with a gain of 146.9%. On the other hand, within the QSE Index, Qatari Investors Group (QIGD) ended in negative territory. QIGD ended the week shaving 7.89 points off the index; the stock is up 14.7% YTD.
Trading value during the week increased by 2.2% to reach QR2.89bn vs QR2.83bn in the prior week. The banks and financial services sector led the trading value during the week, accounting for 38.1% of the total equity trading value. The industrials sector was the second biggest contributor to the overall trading value, accounting for 24.5% of the total trading value. Masraf Al Rayan (MARK) was the top value traded stock during the week with total traded value of QR328.3mn.
Trading volume increased by 12.1% to reach 60.1mn shares vs 53.6mn shares in the prior week. The number of transactions rose by 5.1% to reach 30,539 versus 29,066 in the prior week. The real estate sector led the trading volume, accounting for 41.0%, followed by the banks and financial services sector, which accounted for 26.1% of the overall trading volume. ERES was the top volume traded stock during the week with total traded volume of 13.4mn shares.
Foreign institutions turned bullish during the week with net buying of QR252.0mn vs net selling of QR394.0mn in the prior week. Qatari institutions turned bearish with net selling of QR35.5mn vs net buying of QR198.6mn the week before. Foreign retail investors remained bullish for the week with net buying of QR20.5mn vs net buying of QR17.0mn in the prior week. Qatari retail investors turned bearish with net divestments of QR237.0mn vs net buying of QR178.2mn the week before. Thus far in 2014, the QSE has already witnessed net foreign portfolio investment inflow of $2.3bn.