The Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) index declined by 419.35 points, or 3.82%, during the week to close at 10,570.41. Market capitalisation moved down by 3.46% to QR568.0bn versus QR588.4bn at the end of the previous week. Of the 44 listed companies, four ended the week higher, while 39 fell and one remained unchanged. Zad Holding (ZHCD) was the best performing stock for the week with a gain of 4.6% on 3,440 shares traded. On the other hand, Commercial Bank of Qatar (CBQK) was the worst performing stock with a decline of 8.5% on 1.6mn shares traded.
QNB Group (QNBK), Ezdan Holding (ERES) and Industries Qatar (IQCD) were the primary contributors to the weekly index decline. QNBK was the biggest contributor to the index’s weekly loss, deleting 58.2 points from the index. ERES was the second biggest contributor to the loss, erasing 51.7 points from the index. Moreover, IQCD subtracted 42.1 points to the index. On the other hand, Qatar Navigation (QNNS) deleted only 0.7 points.
Trading value during the week decreased by 26.87% to reach QR997.9mn versus QR1.36bn in the prior week. The banks and financial services sector led the trading value during the week, accounting for 32.8% of the total. The real estate sector was the second biggest contributor to the overall trading value, accounting for 24.4% of the total trading value. ERES was the top value traded stock during the week with total traded value of QR118.2mn.
Trading volume decreased by 26.10% to reach 32.9mn shares versus 44.6mn in the prior week. The number of transactions decreased by 13.41% to reach 14,569 versus 16,826 in the prior week. The real estate sector led the trading volume, accounting for 36.9%, followed by the telecoms sector, which accounted for 24.5% of the overall trading volume. ERES was the top volume traded stock during the week with total traded volume of 7.8mn shares.
Foreign institutions turned bearish during the week with net selling of QR126.4mn versus net buying of QR40.5mn in the prior week. Qatari institutions remained bullish with net buying of QR65.6mn versus net buying of QR103.2mn the week before. Foreign retail investors remained bullish for the week with net buying of QR9.7mn versus net buying of QR1.2mn in the prior week. Qatari retail investors turned bullish with net buying of QR51.0mn versus net selling of QR144.9mn the week before. 
In 2017 year-to-date, foreign institutions bought (on a net basis) $40.7mn worth of Qatari equities.
The weakness we expected last week took place this week and the index dropped 3.82% from last week’s closing (now at 10,570.41). The weakness was confirmed with the bearish Engulfing candlestick on the week. Our support level remains at 10,500 and the resistance at the 11,500 level.
Candlestick chart – A candlestick chart is a price chart that displays the high, low, open, and close for a security. The ‘body’ of the chart is portion between the open and close price, while the high and low intraday movements form the ‘shadow’. The candlestick may represent any time frame. We use a one-day candlestick chart (every candlestick represents one trading day) in our analysis.
Doji candlestick pattern – A Doji candlestick is formed when a security’s open and close are practically equal. The pattern indicates indecisiveness, and based on preceding price actions and future confirmation, may indicate a bullish or bearish trend reversal.