By Santhosh V. Perumal/Business Reporter
Qatar Stock Exchange continued to be under bearish spell for the fourth consecutive session Wednesday, mainly on selling pressure in the transport, telecom and real estate stocks.
Although Islamic stocks witnessed gains, the 20-stock Qatar Index (based on price data) fell another 0.11% to 11,849.63 points as trade volumes also fell.
Foreign institutions continued to be net profit takers but with lesser vigour in the bourse, which is, down 3.55% year-to-date.
Buying interests of domestic institutions were seen slackening and non-Qatari retail investors turned bearish in the market, where realty, banking and industrials stocks corner more than 83% of the total trading volume.
Market capitalisation was down 0.28% or about QR2bn to QR645.22bn.
The Total Return Index fell 0.11% to 17,673.62 points and All Share Index by 0.06% to 3,044.46 points but Al Rayan Islamic Index rose 0.24% to 4,046.22 points.
Transport stocks shrank 0.68%, transport (0.66%), real estate (0.33%), banks and financial services (0.27%) and insurance (0.17%); whereas consumer goods and industrials gained 1.35% and 0.43% respectively.
Major losers included QNB, Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding, Barwa, United Development Company, Ezdan, Ooredoo and Nakilat; even as Qatar Islamic Bank, Doha Bank, Industries Qatar, Gulf International Services, Gulf Warehousing and Islamic Holding Group bucked the trend.
Foreign institutions turned net selling fell to QR24.35mn against QR38.05mn the previous day.
Non-Qatari individual investors turned net sellers to the tune of QR5.96mn compared with net buyers of QR3.31mn on Tuesday.
Domestic institutions’ net buying weakened to QR5.64mn against QR17.54mn on January 20.
Qatari retail investors’ net buying rose to QR24.73mn compared to QR17.13mn the previous day.
Total trade volume fell 23% to 12.38mn shares, value by 8% to QR634.21n and transactions by 4% to 7,223.
The insurance sector’s trade volume plummeted 76% to 0.05mn stocks, value by 86% to QR2.35mn and deals by 63% to 52.
The telecom sector saw its trade volume plunge 62% to 0.7mn equities and value by 45% to QR17.95mn but on 9% jump in transactions to 524.
The market saw 56% decline in the consumer goods sector’s trade volume to 0.2mn shares, whereas value soared 20% to QR21.42mn and deals by 8% to 358.
The real estate sector’s trade volume tanked 39% to 5.48mn stocks, value by 46% to QR161.33mn and transactions by 27% to 1,923.
There was 16% fall in the industrials sector’s trade volume to 1.19mn equities, 10% in value to QR109.19mn and 12% in deals to 1,477.
However, the transport sector’s trade volume soared 75% to 1.12mn shares, value by 31% to QR33.74mn and transactions by 27% to 426.
The banks and financial services reported 48% surge in trade volume 3.64mn stocks, 65% in value to QR288.23mn and 26% in deals to 2,463.
In the debt market, there was no trading of treasury bills and government bonds.
