The Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) index lost 140.47 points, or 1.35%, during the week to close at 10,285.5. Market capitalisation decreased by 0.62% to QR544.7bn versus QR548.1bn at the end of the previous week. Of the 43 listed companies, 18 ended the week higher, while 23 fell and two remained unchanged. Gulf Warehousing Co (GWCS) was the best performing stock for the week with a gain of 21.2% on 700,523 shares traded because of the increase in its foreign ownership limit to 49% from 25%. On the other hand, Commercial Bank of Qatar (CBQK) was the worst performing with a decline of 7.9% on 1.2mn shares traded.
Ezdan Holding Group (ERES), CBQK and Qatar Insurance Co (QATI) were the primary contributors to the weekly index loss. ERES was the biggest contributor, erasing 37.2 points from the index. CBQK was the second biggest, wiping 30.7 points from the index; QATI erased 26.2 points from the index. On the other hand, Qatar Islamic Bank (QIBK) contributed positively to the index, adding 19.0 points.
Trading value during the week decreased by 8.64% to reach QR1.9bn versus QR2.1bn in the prior week. The banks and financial services sector led the trading value during the week, accounting for 40.8% of the total. The industrials was the second biggest contributor, accounting for 20.8% of the total trading value. Masraf Al Rayan (MARK) was the top value traded stock during the week with total traded value of
QR282.1mn.
Trading volume decreased by 31.3% to reach 51.4mn shares versus 74.8mn in the prior week. The number of transactions decreased by 11.4% to reach 26,356 versus 29,748 in the prior week. The banks and financial services sector led the trading volume, accounting for 34.2%, followed by the real estate sector, which accounted for 21.9% of the overall trading volume. MARK was the top volume traded stock during the week with total traded volume of 7.8mn shares.
Foreign institutions remained bullish during the week with net buying of QR168.6mn versus net buying of QR284.8mn in the prior week. Qatari institutions remained bearish with net selling of QR113.5mn versus net selling of QR249.5mn the week before. Foreign retail investors remained bearish for the week with net selling of QR3.8mn versus net selling of QR15.5mn in the prior week. Qatari retail investors remained bearish with net selling of QR51.3mn versus net selling of QR15.5mn the week before.
In 2016 year-to-date, foreign institutions bought (on a net basis) $160.6mn worth of Qatari equities.
QNB
