Index gains 200 points as Baladna announces 75% IPO

The Qatar Stock Exchange witnessed strong gains of more than 200 points in the key index and about QR8bn in capitalisation this week which saw Baladna, yet to be incorporated holding entity of Baladna Food Industries, announce 75% initial public offering.

Transport and banking counters were instrumental in lifting the Qatari bourse this week which saw Fitch, a global credit rating agency, says Qatari Islamic banks are looking to expand abroad (including in Morocco and in the UK) to achieve faster growth, improved funding costs and funding diversification.Increased buying interests of foreign institutions and domestic funds turned bullish this week which saw Qatar Islamic Bank register 11% year-on-year growth in net profit to QR2.22bn in the first nine months of this year.Notwithstanding the bearish outlook of local and non-Qatari retail investors, the 20-stock benchmark closed 1.96% higher this week which saw increased sales and better cost management help Woqod report a 6% year-on-year jump in net profit to QR872mn for the third quarter ended September this year.Six of the seven sectors displayed strong buying interests this week which saw Fitch affirms QIIB's ratings at ‘A’ with a 'stable' outlook.Islamic stocks were seen gaining slower than the other indices this week which saw Qatar’s inflation decline 0.75% on monthly basis in September this year.Trade turnover and volumes were on the increase this week which saw as many as 82,760 Masraf Al Rayan sponsored exchange traded fund QATR valued at QR0.19mn trade across eight transactions.The Total Return Index shrank 1.96%, Al Rayyan Islamic Index by 1.4% and All Share Index by 1.82% this week which saw a total of 130,129 Doha Bank sponsored QETF valued at QR1.33mn changed hands across 16 deals.The transport index shot up 4.42%, banks and financial services (2.6%), telecom (1.66%), real estate (1.4%), industrials (0.58%) and insurance (0.17%); while consumer goods declined 0.66% this week which saw market capitalisation gain 1.33% to QR577.96bn mainly on large and small cap equities.About 61% of the traded constituents extended gains with major movers being Nakilat, Milaha, Barwa, Al Khaleej Takaful, Doha Insurance, Qatar Electricity and Water, Industries Qatar, Aamal Company, Commercial Bank, Qatar Islamic Bank, QNB, QIIB and Masraf Al Rayan; even as Ezdan, Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding, Qatari German Company for Medical Devices, Qatar Islamic Insurance and Ahlibank Qatar were among the losers this week which saw banking and industrials constitute about 63% of the trading volume.The banks and financial services sector accounted for 40% of the trading volume, industrials (23%), realty (15%), consumer goods (9%), insurance (6%), transport (4%) and telecom (3%) this week.In terms of value, banks and financial services accounted for 63%, industrials (13%), consumer goods (7%), real estate (6%), telecom (4%), insurance (4%) and transport (3%) this week.Domestic funds’ net buying increased influentially to QR128.66mn compared to QR52.5mn the week ended October 10.Non-Qatari funds turned net buyers to the tune of QR63.4mn against net sellers of QR62.71mn the previous week.However, local retail investors were net sellers to the extent of QR177.77mn compared with net buyers of QR0.17mn a week ago.Non-Qatari individuals turned net profit takers to the tune of QR14.3mn against net buyers of QR0.17mn the previous week.Total trade volume rose 16% to 349.99mn shares, value by 44% to QR1.24bn and transactions by 3% to 24,294.The insurance sector’s trade volume more than doubled to 20.04mn equities and value more than doubled to QR55.23mn on 46% increase in deals to 1,540.The transport sector reported 80% surge in trade volume to 14.89mn stocks, 69% in value to QR42.77mn and 60% in transactions to 1,205.The banks and financial services sector’s trade volume soared 64% to 140.4mn shares, value by 62% to QR781.21mn and deals by 31% to 9,941.There was 56% expansion in the telecom sector’s trade volume to 11.25mn equities and 14% in value to QR44.05mn but on 18% fall in transactions to 1,972.The real estate sector’s trade volume shot up 15% to 53.32mn stocks, value by 52% to QR72.61mn and deals by 10% to 1,976.However, the consumer goods sector saw 46% plunge in trade volume to 29.99mn shares, 21% in value to QR81.15mn and 33% in transactions to 2,301.The industrials sector’s trade volume tanked 11% to 80.09mn equities, while value rose 18% to QR166.11mn despite 18% lower deals at 5,359.