Weekly Market Report

The Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) index gained 39.53 points, or 0.38%, during the week to close at 10,425.97. Market capitalisation increased by 0.53% to QR548.1bn versus QR545.2bn at the end of the previous week. Of the 43 listed companies, 25 ended the week higher, while 17 fell and one remained unchanged. Alijarah Holding (NLCS) was the best performing stock for the week with a gain of 14.8% on 9.4mn shares traded. On the other hand, Qatar Industrial Manufacturing Co (QIMD) was the worst performing stock with a decline of 11.3% on only 43,607 shares traded.
Ezdan Group Holding (ERES), QNB Group (QNBK) and Aamal Holding (AHCS) were the primary contributors to the weekly index gain. ERES was the biggest contributor, contributing 95.5 points to the index. QNBK was the second biggest contributor, adding 21.0 points to the index. Moreover, AHCS tacked on 14.1 points to the index. On the other hand, Barwa Real Estate Co (BRES) contributed negatively to the index, shedding 30.3 points from the index.
Trading value during the week increased by 24.8% to reach QR2.1bn versus QR1.7bn in the prior week. The banks and financial services sector led the trading value during the week, accounting for 41.1% of the total trading value. The industrials was the second biggest contributor to the overall trading value, accounting for 18.3% of the total trading value. Masraf Al Rayan (MARK) was the top value traded stock during the week with total traded value of QR248.1mn.
Trading volume increased by 43.0% to reach 74.8mn shares versus 52.3mn in the prior week. The number of transactions increased by 23.3% to reach 29,748 versus 24,120 in the prior week. The banks and financial services sector led the trading volume, accounting for 32.6%, followed by the industrials, which accounted for 18.6% of the overall trading volume. NLCS was the top volume traded stock during the week with total traded volume of 9.4mn shares.
Foreign institutions remained bullish during the week with net buying of QR284.8mn versus net buying of QR59.8mn in the prior week. Qatari institutions remained bearish with net selling of QR249.5mn versus net selling of QR78.7mn the week before. Foreign retail investors turned bearish for the week with net selling of QR15.5mn versus net buying of QR4.9mn in the prior week. Qatari retail investors turned bearish with net selling of QR15.5mn versus net buying of QR14.0mn the week before.
In 2016 year-to-date, foreign institutions bought (on a net basis) $64mn worth of Qatari equities.