The Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) Index lost 119.89 points, or 1.20%, during the week to close at 9,847.36. Market capitalisation decreased by 1.07% to QR523.3bn versus QR529.0bn at the end of the previous week. Of the 43 listed companies, 25 ended the week higher, while 18 fell and none remained unchanged.
Qatari Investors Group (QIGD) was the best performing stock for the week with a gain of 32.99% on 1.7mn shares traded. On the other hand, Qatar Islamic Bank (QIBK) was the worst performing with a decline of 6.93% on 515,730 shares traded.
Masraf Al Rayan (MARK), Qatar Islamic Bank (QIBK) and Industries Qatar (IQCD) were the primary contributors to the weekly index loss. MARK was the biggest contributor, erasing 52.7 points from the index. QIBK was the second biggest contributor to the drop, shedding 45.4 points off the index. Moreover, IQCD deleted 34.8 points from the index. On the other hand, Ezdan Group Holding (ERES) contributed positively to the index, adding 43.5 points.
Trading value during the week increased by 30.5% to reach QR2.02bn versus QR1.55bn in the prior week. The industrials sector led the trading value during the week, accounting for 33.0% of the total value. The banks and financial services sector was the second biggest contributor to the overall trading value, accounting for 29.5% of the total. Gulf International Services (GISS) was the top value traded stock during the week with total traded value of QR359.6mn.
Trading volume increased by 14.5% to reach 57.9mn shares versus 50.6mn shares in the prior week. The number of transactions increased by 19.5% to reach 28,758 versus 24,076 in the prior week. The industrials sector led the trading volume, accounting for 27.4%, followed by the real estate sector, which accounted for 24.8% of the overall trading volume. GISS was also the top volume traded stock during the week with total traded volume of 10.5mn shares.
Foreign institutions turned bearish during the week with net selling of QR30.6mn versus net buying of QR98.4mn in the prior week. Qatari institutions remained bearish with net selling of QR23.5mn versus net selling of QR103.5mn the week before. Foreign retail investors remained bullish for the week with net buying of QR0.4mn versus net buying of QR2.4mn in the prior week. Qatari retail investors remained bullish with net buying of QR53.6mn versus net buying of QR2.8mn the week before.
In 2016 year-to-date, foreign institutions sold (on a net basis) $33mn worth of Qatari equities.