The Qatar Stock Exchange witnessed gains of up to 103 points to stay above 10,450 levels this week despite more than 67% of the traded constituents being in the red.
Non-Qatari institutions were seen increasingly net buyers this week which saw Barwa Bank and International Bank of Qatar complete their legal merger, thus establishing a Shariah-compliant financial powerhouse with combined assets in excess of QR80bn.
The banking and transport counters witnessed higher than average demand this week which saw Gulf Drilling International enter into pact with North Oil Company for providing a rig to Al Shaheen field development.
Domestic institutions were seen bullish this week which witnessed Nakilat report QR36mn net profit in the first quarter of this year.
Notwithstanding selling pressure in five of the seven sectors, the 20-stock Qatar Index rose 1% this week which saw Nebras Power, a joint venture between Qatar Electricity and Water Company (60%) and Qatar Holding (40%), foray into Brazil's fast growing renewables power market as part of expanding its global footprint.
However, local retail investors were increasingly net profit takers this week which saw Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding report QR281mn net profit in the first three months of this year.
Non-Qatari counterparts were seen bearish this week which saw Qatar Industrial Manufacturing Company register QR33.96mn in the first quarter of this year.
Market capitalisation expanded 1.51% or about QR9bn to QR588.11bn mainly on account of large and midcap equities this week which saw Qatar First Bank report QR3.18mn in January-March this year.
Major gainers included QNB, Commercial Bank, Ahlibank Qatar, Nakilat, Gulf Warehousing, Milaha, Qatar Insurance and Doha Bank this week which saw as many as 762 Masraf Al Rayan sponsored exchange traded funds QATR valued at QR0.02mn trade across five deals.
Nevertheless, losers included Industries Qatar, Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding, Al Khaleej Takaful, United Development Company, Mazaya Qatar, Ezdan, Vodafone Qatar, Gulf International Services, Qatari Investors Group, Alijarah Holding and Dlala this week which saw a total of 5,242 Doha Bank sponsored QETF valued at QR0.53mn change hands across 10 transactions.
The Total Return Index gained 0.99% and All Share Index by 1.11%, while Al Rayan Islamic Index (Price) declined 1.96% this week which saw United Development Company report QR176mn in January-March 2019.
The banks and financial services index surged 4.58%, transport (3.54%) and insurance (0.89%); while industrials gained 3.45%, real estate (3.29%), telecom (1.41%) and consumer goods (1.28%) this week which saw banking and industrials segments together account for more than 67% of total trade volume.
The banks and financial sector accounted for 39% of the total volume, industrials (28%), realty (16%), telecom (9%), consumer goods and transport (3% each), and insurance (2%) this week which saw Industries Qatar register QR674mn in the first three months of this year.
In terms of value, banks and financial services’ share were 48%, industrials (24%), real estate (9%), consumer goods (8%), telecom and transport (4% each), and insurance (2%) this week which saw QIIB register QR266.1mn net profit in the first three months of this year.
Foreign institutions’ net buying increased substantially to QR142.8mn against QR110.02mn the previous week.
Domestic funds turned net buyers to the tune of QR14.65mn compared with net sellers of QR30.95mn a week ago.
However, Qataris’ net selling strengthened significantly to QR142.43mn against QR80.63mn the week ended April 4.
Non-Qatari individuals were net profit takers to the extent of QR15.15mn compared with net buyers of QR1.56mn the previous week.
Total trade volume fell 35% to 52.04mn shares, value by 5% to QR1.24bn and transactions by 24% to 22,750 this week.
The consumer goods sector’s trade volume plummeted 70% to 1.58mn equities, value by 6% to QR100.04mn and deals by 32% to 1,523.
The market witnessed 48% plunge in the insurance sector’s trade volume to 1.04mn stocks, 44% in value to QR25.25mn and 33% in transactions to 805.
The industrials sector’s trade volume tanked 42% to 14.55mn shares, value by 16% to QR303.42mn and deals by 27% to 8,121.
The telecom sector reported 39% shrinkage in trade volume to 4.52mn equities, 22% in value to QR53.91mn and 19% in transactions to 1,389.
The real estate sector’s trade volume declined 29% to 8.18mn stocks, value by 24% to QR108.53mn and deals by 36% to 3,379.
The banks and financial sector saw 25% contraction in trade volume to 20.51mn shares but on 12% jump in value to QR602.09mn despite 12% lower transactions at 6,636.
However, the transport sector’s trade volume shot up 24% to 1.66mn equities and value by 32% to QR48.53mn, whereas deals were down 8% to 897.
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