The consolidation wave in the domestic banking sector had a great influence on the Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE), whose capitalisation was seen gaining about QR10bn this week.
Domestic funds were increasingly bullish as the bourse’s main barometer 20-stock Qatar Index rose 0.29% this week which saw Masraf Al Rayan and Al Khaliji disclose their intent to establish one of the largest Shariah-compliant bank in Qatar and in the Middle East with total assets exceeding QR164bn and a shareholders’ equity of more than QR19bn.
About 66% of the traded constituents extended gains to investors this week which saw Qatar Islamic Bank group chief executive Bassel Gamal view that the proposed merger would help the whole sector and that the competition is good for the market.
A higher than average demand was seen within the transport and realty counters on the market this week which saw Doha Bank group chief executive Dr R Seetharaman said consolidation is a natural extension of a “sustainable” growth path in the banking industry.
Nevertheless, both local retail investors and foreign funds were increasingly net profit takers this week which saw KPMG Qatar partner Omar Mahmood highlight the need for further consolidation in view of the demographics and the smaller size of the market.
The Total Return Index rose 0.29%, Al Rayan Islamic Index by 0.24% and All Share Index by 0.49% this week this which saw as many as 259,209 Masraf Al Rayan sponsored exchange traded fund QATR valued at QR531,879 changed hands across 19 transactions.
Market capitalisation saw 1.85% expansion to QR534.62bn mainly on large and small cap segments this week which saw a total of 97,483 Doha Bank-sponsored QETF worth QR873,527 traded across 18 deals.
The transport index soared 2.56%, real estate (2.52%), insurance (1.21%), banks and financial services (0.46%), industrials (0.17%) and telecom (0.11%); while consumer goods and services declined 1.32% this week which saw the market breadth skewed towards gainers.
Major movers included Al Khaliji, Masraf Al Rayan, Doha Bank, Milaha, Ezdan, Mazaya Qatar, Dlala, Islamic Holding Group, Qatar General Insurance and Reinsurance, Widam Food, Baladna, Mannai Corporation, Aamal and Qamco; while Gulf Warehousing, Woqod, QIIB, Qatar Industrial Manufacturing, Qatar National Cement, Gulf International Services and Al Khaleej Takaful were among the losers this week which saw realty and banking sectors together account for about 61% of total trading volume.
Trade turnover and volumes were on the increase this week which saw the real estate sector account for 40% of the total trading volume, banks and financial services (20%), industrials (18%), consumer goods and services (17%), transport and telecom (2% each) and insurance (1%) this week.
In value, the banks and financial sector’s share was 34%, realty (29%), industrials (15%), consumer goods and services (14%), transport (5%), and telecom and insurance (2% each) this week.
Domestic funds’ net buying increased significantly to QR153.68mn against QR24.25mn the week ended June 25.
However, local retail investors’ net selling grew substantially to QR78.55mn compared to QR24.07mn a week ago.
Foreign institutions’ net selling also rose considerably to QR78.28mn against QR20.03mn the previous week.
The Arab individuals’ net selling rose perceptibly to QR4.99mn compared to QR2.11mn the week ended June 25.
The Gulf individuals turned net sellers to the tune of QR3.15mn against net buyers of QR0.35mn a week ago.
Foreign individuals were net sellers to the extent of QR1.58mn compared with net buyers of QR1.05mn the previous week.
The Arab funds’ net profit booking grew marginally to QR0.26mn against QR0.12mn the week ended June 25.
The Gulf funds’ net buying eased noticeably to QR13.13mn compared to QR20.21mn the previous week.
Total trading volume rose 37% to 1.77bn shares, value by 50% to QR2.63bn and transactions by 11% to 45,571.
The real estate sector’s trade volume more than doubled to 712.43mn equities and value also more than doubled to QR769.16mn on 43% increase in deals to 10,124.
The telecom sector’s trade volume more than doubled to 27.81mn stocks, value soared 39% to QR52.58mn and transactions by 29% to 2,045.
The banks and financial services sector saw 63% surge in trade volume to 361.6mn shares, 53% in value to QR884.43mn and 14% in deals to 12,984.
The transport sector’s trade volume expanded 7% to 34.57mn equities and value by 38% to 127.57mn, whereas transactions fell 17% to 1,726.
There was 6% growth in the industrials sector’s trade volume to 315.75mn stocks, 33% in value to QR388.33mn and 20% in deals to 10,454.
However, the insurance sector’s trade volume plummeted 29% to 23.2mn shares, value by 29% to QR39.72mn and transactions by 13% to 987.
The consumer goods sector reported 25% plunge in trade volume to 296.67mn equities, 5% in value to QR365.18mn and 21% in deals to 7,251.

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