Weekly Market Report

The Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) Index increased by 28.77 points, or 0.27%, during the week to close at 10,681.08. Market capitalisation increased by 0.17% to QR572.4bn versus QR571.4bn at the end of the previous week. Of the 44 listed companies, 18 companies ended the week higher, while 24 fell and two remained unchanged. Commercial Bank of Qatar (CBQK) was the best-performing stock for the week with a gain of 4.0% on 711,209 shares traded. On the other hand, Ahli Bank (ABQK) was the worst-performing stock with a decline of almost 5% on 36 shares traded only.Masraf Al Rayan (MARK), QNB Group (QNBK) and CBQK were the primary contributors to the weekly index gains. MARK was the biggest contributor to the index’s weekly increase, adding 23.5 points to the index. QNBK was the second biggest contributor to the gain, contributing 21.6 points to the index. Moreover, CBQK tacked on 13.1 points to the index. On the other hand, Qatar Insurance Co (QATI) contributed negatively to the index, erasing 22.2 points from the index. Trading value during the week decreased by 16.3% to reach QR926.8mn versus QR1.1bn in the prior week. The Banks and Financial Services sector led the trading value during the week, accounting for 39.64% of the total trading value. The Industrials sector was the second biggest contributor to the overall trading value, accounting for 20.5% of the total trading value. Qatar Islamic Bank (QIBK) was the top value traded stock during the week with total traded value of QR97.4mn.Trading volume decreased by 1.6% to reach 25.6mn shares versus 26.0mn shares in the prior week. The number of transactions increased by 9.9% to reach 17.002 transactions versus 15,467 transactions in the prior week. The Banks and Financial Services sector led the trading volume, accounting for 30.6%, followed by the Real Estate sector, which accounted for 21.5% of the overall trading volume. Vodafone Qatar (VFQS) was the top volume traded stock during the week with total traded volume of 4.3mn shares.Foreign institutions remained bullish during the week with net buying of QR81.5mn vs buying of QR168.1mn in the prior week. Qatari institutions remained bearish with net selling of QR8.6mn vs net selling of QR14.3mn the week before. Foreign retail investors remained bearish for the week with net selling of QR4.4mn vs net selling of QR22.4mn in the prior week. Qatari retail investors remained bearish with net selling of QR68.4mn vs net selling of QR131.3mn the week before. In 2016 YTD, foreign institutions bought (on a net basis) ~$600mn worth of Qatari equities.