Transport, insurance and real estate counters were especially the drag on the Qatar Stock Exchange this week which saw the announcement of an imminent maiden offer from local dairy farm Baladna.
Foreign institutions were increasingly into profit booking this week which saw QNB Group report a 4% year-on-year jump in net profit to QR11.2bn in January-September 2019.
Domestic funds’ weakened net buying also had its role in dampening the market this week as Qatar's construction sector and its allied segments as steel and cement expected to see strong growth with the building permits issued registering a robust double digit month-on-month growth in September.
Notwithstanding the increased net buying interests of non-Qatari individual investors, the 20-stock benchmark closed 0.81% lower this week, which saw Nakilat acquire the full ownership of four Q-Flex liquefied natural gas carriers from its joint-venture partner, International Seaways.
Six of the seven sectors were under selling pressure this week which saw a Qatar Financial Center study that found growth momentum returning in the country’s non-energy private sector.
Local retail investors were seen marginally bullish this week which saw the QSE strongly pitch for a mandatory environment social and governance (ESG) reports by the listed companies.
Islamic stocks were seen declining slower than the other indices this week which saw global index compiler MSCI disclose that QNB has substantially improved its ESG standards to occupy a prime place among global banks.
Trade turnover and volumes were on the decline this week which saw as many as 241,116 Masraf Al Rayan sponsored exchange traded fund QATR valued at QR0.56mn trade across 13 transactions.
The Total Return Index shrank 0.81%, Al Rayyan Islamic Index by 0.44% and All Share Index by 0.66% this week which saw a total of 13,192 Doha Bank sponsored QETF valued at QR0.13mn changed hands across nine deals.
The transport index plummeted 3.53%, insurance (2.98%), realty (1.01%), consumer goods (0.46%), industrials (0.45%) and banks and financial services (0.37%); while telecom gained 1.29% this week which saw market capitalisation decline more than QR2bn or 0.4% to QR569.37bn mainly on small and microcap equities.
More than 64% of the traded constituents were in the red with major losers being Milaha, Qatar Insurance, Gulf International Services, Nakilat, Gulf Warehousing, Ezdan, Mazaya Qatar, Doha Bank, Qatar Islamic Bank, Salam International Investment, Medicare Group, Mannai Corporation and Qatar National Cement; even as Qatar Islamic Insurance, QIIB, Qatari German Company for Medical Devices, Al Meera and Ahlibank Qatar were among the gainers this week which saw industrials and realty stocks constitute about 69% of the trading volume.
The industrials sector accounted for 30% of the trading volume, banks and financial services (28%), consumer goods (18%), realty (15%), insurance and transport (3% each), and telecom (2%) this week.
In terms of value, banks and financial services accounted for 56%, industrials (16%), consumer goods (12%), real estate (6%), telecom (4%), and insurance and transport (3% each) this week.
Non-Qatari funds’ net selling increased considerably to QR62.71mn compared to QR29.78mn the previous week.
Domestic funds’ net buying weakened influentially to QR52.5mn against QR64.39mn the week ended October 3.
However, non-Qatari individuals’ net buying rose noticeably to QR0.17mn compared to QR6.66mn a week ago.
Local retail investors turned net buyers to the tune of QR0.17mn against net profit takers of QR41.15mn the previous week.
Total trade volume fell 51% to 301.02mn shares, value by 29% to QR864.98mn and transactions by 32% to 23,571.
The industrials sector’s trade volume plummeted 70% to 90.29mn equities, value by 59% to QR140.96mn and deals by 53% to 6,526.
The insurance sector reported 66% plunge in trade volume to 8.19mn stocks, 56% in value to QR26.37mn and 23% in transactions to 1,057.
The real estate sector’s trade volume tanked 63% to 46.44mn shares, value by 62% to QR47.68mn and deals by 69% to 1,794.
There was 58% shrinkage in the telecom sector’s trade volume to 7.19mn equities, 40% in value to QR38.8mn and less than 1% in transactions to 2,404.
The transport sector’s trade volume shrank 33% to 8.26mn stocks, value by 37% to QR25.36mn and deals by 10% to 754.
The banks and financial services sector saw 6% fall in trade volume to 85.37mn shares but on 14% growth in value to QR482.7mn and 10% in transactions to 7,589.
However, the consumer goods sector’s trade volume soared 17% to 55.3mn equities, while value eroded 32% to QR103.13mn despite 4% higher deals at 3,447.

Related Story