The apprehensions over an expected extremely tight US monetary policy and later the sharp 75 basis points hike in rates by the US Federal Reserve had dampened sentiments on the Qatar Stock Exchange, which resulted in its key index plummet 600 points and capitalisation erode QR35bn.
An across the board selling, notably in the banking and industrials counters, led the 20-stock Qatar Index plunge 4.53% this week, which saw the global credit rating agency Standard and Poor’s view that the consumption lending in Qatar is expected to see stronger growth, buoyed by the FIFA World Cup at the end of the year and positive sentiment stemming from high natural gas prices.
The Gulf institutions were increasingly net profit takers this week which saw Qatar's industrials sector display robust performance in July on an annualised basis.
More than 89% of the traded constituents were in the red this week which saw the Qatar Central Bank strengthen the treasury bills (T-bills) segment by launching shorter tenure treasury bills as well as enhancing the present size of T-bills.
The Arab individuals turned bearish this week which saw the Minister of Commerce and Industry HE Sheikh Mohamed bin Hamad bin Qassim al-Thani say the FIFA World Cup will help Qatar's revenues from global tourism to grow more than 116% year-on-year to QR67bn in 2022.
The foreign funds’ net buying weakened significantly this week which saw a report prepared by of Investment Promotion Agency Qatar and Ernst and Young that said demand for hotel and apartment facilities is expected to increase "exponentially" to accommodate more than 1mn visitors during the final quarter of 2022 for FIFA World Cup.
However, the foreign retail investors were increasingly net buyers this week which saw a total of 0.11mn Masraf Al Rayan-sponsored exchange traded fund QATR worth QR0.31mn trade across 25 deals.
The Arab funds were also increasingly bullish this week which saw as many as 0.24mn Doha Bank-sponsored QETF valued at QR3.01mn change hands across 89 transactions.
The overall trading turnover and volumes in the main market and the venture market were on the decline this week, which saw the industrials and banking sectors together constitute more than 61% of the total trade volume in the main market.
Market capitalisation eroded QR34.5bn or 4.7% to QR699.84bn, mainly on large and midcap segments this week, which saw no trading of sovereign bonds.
The Total Return Index plummeted 4.53%, All Share Index by 4.37% and All Islamic Index by 3.75% this week, which saw no trading of treasury bills.
The banks and financial services sector index plunged 5.11%, industrials (4.67%), real estate (4.47%), telecom (3.36%), transport (2.96%), insurance (2.24%) and consumer goods and services (0.26%) this week.
Major losers in the main market included Ezdan, Estithmar Holding, Qatar Electricity and Water, Qatar Islamic bank, Qatari German Medical Devices, QNB, Commercial Bank, QIIB, Qatar First Bank, Qatar National Cement, Industries Qatar, Aamal Company, Gulf International Services, Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding, Qamco, QLM, Barwa, Mazaya Qatar, Ooredoo, Vodafone Qatar and Nakilat. In the venture market, both Al Faleh Educational Holding and Mekdam Holding saw their shares depreciate in value this week.
Nevertheless, Qatar Cinema and Film Distribution, Doha Bank, Dlala, Qatar Industrial Manufacturing and Woqod were among the gainers in the main market this week.
The Gulf institutions’ net selling increased noticeably to QR28.28mn compared to QR21.54mn the week ended September 15.
The Arab individuals turned net sellers to the tune of QR2.43mn against net buyers of QR3.78mn the previous week.
The foreign funds’ net buying decreased significantly to QR118.11mn compared to QR539.44mn a week ago.
However, the foreign individuals’ net buying grew markedly to QR18.6mn against QR1.26mn the week ended September 15.
The Arab institutions’ net buying expanded noticeably to QR8.8mn compared to QR0.67mn the previous week.
The domestic institutions’ net selling shrank substantially to QR12.58mn against QR377.57mn a week ago.
The local retail investors’ net selling declined drastically to QR101.9mn compared to QR138.37mn the week ended September 15.
The Gulf individuals turned net profit booking eased perceptibly to QR0.39mn against QR7.66mn the previous week.
Total trade volume in the main market tanked 18% to 625.83mn shares, value by 33% to QR2.27bn and deals by 20% to 67,859.
The venture market reported 15% contraction in trade volumes to 0.99mn equities and 30% in value to QR5.83mn but on 8% jump in transactions to 479.