Islamic equities outperformed the other indices on the Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) this week, which otherwise had truncated days in view of Eid holidays.
The industrials and banking counters witnessed higher demand this week which saw Gulf Warehousing (GWC) calling off a proposal to acquire Spick and Span Cleaning Services Company.
The Arab individuals were seen net buyers as the 20-stock Qatar Index gained 0.47% this week which saw Baladna report seven-month net profit of QR83.9mn.
Five of the seven sectors witnessed buying interests this week which saw Qatar’s maritime sector returning to normalcy with more ships calling on these ports in June this year.
The weakened net selling pressure from local and Gulf retail investors as well as Gulf funds also had its role in lifting the sentiments in the market this week which saw Fitch rating viewed that Qatar's Islamic banking landscape, whose operational performance was better than the conventional peers in 2019, offer potential for further consolidation.
About 57% of the traded constituents extended gains this week which saw strong growth in non-hydrocarbons overcome the flat course in the hydrocarbon sector that Qatar reported a marginal increase in real (inflation-adjusted) growth in the first quarter of this year.
However, domestic funds’ net buying was seen weakening this week which saw the QSE developing a sustainability benchmark index for the listed companies.
The Total Return Index gained 0.47%, the All Share Index 0.65% and Al Rayan Islamic Index 0.77% this week which saw market capitalisation at QR550.76bn.
Foreign individuals’ net selling weakened this week which saw as many as 21,186 Masraf Al Rayan sponsored exchange traded fund QATR valued at QR44,478 changed hands across seven transactions.
The industrials index rose 1.18%, banks and financial services (0.82%), real estate and consumer goods and services (0.48% each) and insurance (0.14%); while telecom and transport declined 2.09% and 0.42% respectively this week which saw a total of 5,024 Doha Bank-sponsored QETF worth QR46,280 traded across three deals.
Major gainers included Qatar First Bank, Baladna, Qatari Investors Group, Qatar Oman Investment, al khaliji, Doha Bank, QNB, Industries Qatar, Qamco and Qatar National Cement; whereas Qatar German Company for Medical Devices, Aamal Company, Ooredoo, Qatar Electricity and Water, Gulf Warehousing, Ezdan and Mazaya Qatar were among the losers this week which saw banking and industrials sectors together account for about 56% of total trading volume.
Trade turnover and volumes were on the decline this week which saw the banks and financial services sector account for 34% of the total trading volume, industrials (22%), consumer goods and services (18%), real estate (12%), insurance (6%), telecom (5%) and transport (4%) this week.
In value, the banks and financial sector’s share was 42%, consumer goods and services (17%), industrials (15%), transport (9%), realty (8%), insurance (6%) and telecom (4%) this week.
The Arab individuals turned net buyers to the tune of QR5.81mn compared with net sellers of QR4.72mn the previous week.
Qatari individuals’ net selling declined considerably to QR13.55mn against QR52.26mn the week ended July 30.
Foreign individuals’ net selling also fell drastically to QR0.58mn compared to QR6.74mn a week ago.
The Gulf institutions’ net profit booking eased noticeably to QR5.71mn against QR8.09mn the previous week.
The Gulf individuals’ net selling decreased perceptibly to QR0.39mn compared to QR0.67mn the week ended July 30.
The Arab institutions’ net selling weakened marginally to QR0.13mn against QR0.4mn a week ago.
However, foreign funds’ net profit booking grew influentially to QR73.34mn compared to QR31.86mn the previous week.
Domestic funds’ net buying shrank significantly to QR87.76mn against QR104.53mn the week ended July 30.
Total trading volume fell 56% to 458.39mn shares, value by 43% to QR967.58mn and transactions by 40% to 21,604.
The consumer goods sector’s trade volume plummeted 68% to 80.64mn equities, value by 61% to QR165.06mn and deals by 52% 3,514.
The industrials sector reported 63% plunge in trade volume to 101.86mn stocks, 54% in value to QR144.17mn and 48% in transactions to 4,237.
The banks and financial services sector’s trade volume tanked 54% to 154.37mn shares, value by 34% to QR407.22mn and deals by 31% to 8,347.
There was 50% shrinkage in the real estate sector’s trade volume to 53.02mn equities, 53% in value to QR73.01mn and 40% in transactions to 2,326.
The insurance sector’s trade volume decreased 21% to 26.69mn, value by 18% to QR53.54mn and deals by 54% to 616.
The telecom sector saw 12% contraction in trade volume to 21.39mn shares, 26% in value to QR42mn and 34% in transactions to 1,270.
However, the transport sector’s trade volume shot up 18% to 20.42mn equities, value by 51% to QR82.59mn and deals by 6% to 1,294.
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