Profit booking was intense within telecom and realty counters, leading the 20-stock Qatar Index knock off 0.48% to 10,344.39points.
Non-Qatari individuals turned bearish and there was also increased net selling from their local counterparts in the bourse, whose year-to-date losses widened further to 0.81%.
Large and midcap equities were on the decline in the market where domestic and Gulf institutions were however increasingly net buyers.
Trade turnover and volumes were on the increase in the market, where telecom, banking and real estate sectors together accounted for more than 78% of the total trade volumes.
Market capitalisation fell about QR2bn or 0.32% to QR557.7bn with large and midcap equities losing 0.33% and 0.31% respectively, even as small caps notably shot up 1.32%.
The Total Return Index shrank 0.48% to 16,736.54 points, All Share Index by 0.33% to 2,843.6 points and Al Rayan Islamic Index by 0.23% to 3,862.25 points.
Telecom sector saw its index shed 1.15%, realty (0.87%), banks and financial services (0.35%), insurance (0.15%) and transport (0.04%), while consumer goods gained 0.28%. The index of industrials was rather unchanged.
Major losers included Ooredoo, Ezdan, Masraf Al Rayan, QNB, Qatar Insurance, Qatar First Bank, Doha Bank, Qatari Investors Group, Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding, Vodafone Qatar and Gulf Warehousing.
Nevertheless, Aamal Company, Barwa, Mazaya Qatar, Commercial Bank, Qatar National Cement, Qatari German Company for Medical Devices and Qatar General and Reinsurance were among the gainers.
Non-Qatari institutions’ net selling increased considerably to QR20.16mn compared to QR2.21mn on December 25.
Non-Qatari individual investors turned net sellers to the tune of QR0.38mn against net buyers of QR2.46mn the previous day.
Local retail investors’ net profit booking strengthened to QR5.16mn compared to QR3.49mn on Sunday.
The GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) individual investors’ net buying fell to QR0.14mn against QR0.75mn on December 25.
However, domestic institutions’ net buying strengthened substantially to QR18.18mn compared to QR0.31mn the previous day.
The GCC institutions’ net buying also increased perceptibly to QR7.37mn against QR2.2mn on Sunday.
Total trade volume rose 35% to 6.53mn shares, value by 26% to QR157.39mn and deals by 32% to 2,530.
The insurance sector’s trade volume tripled to 0.15mn equities and value more than quadrupled to QR6.3mn on more than quadrupled transactions to 157.
The consumer goods sector’s trade volume more than doubled to 0.52mn stocks, value soared 66% to QR18.14mn and deals by 68% to 404.
The banks and financial services sector saw 78% surge in trade volume to 1.8mn shares, 30% in value to QR49.98mn and 27% in transactions to 818.
The telecom sector’s trade volume shot up 44% to 2.05mn equities, value by 54% to QR22.77mn and deals by 90% to 222.
There was 36% expansion in the transport sector’s trade volume to 0.19mn equities but on 2% fall in value to QR7.36mn. Transactions gained 80% to 117.
However, the real estate sector’s trade volume plummeted 13% to 1.24mn shares, value by 13% to QR27.7m and deals by 1% to 352.
The market witnessed 5% decline in the industrials sector’s trade volume to 0.55mn equities but on 28% jump in value to QR25.15mn and less than 1% in transactions to 460.
In the debt market, there was no trading of treasury bills and government bonds.
