Qatar Exchange Weekly Market Report

26/04/2015 00:19 AST

The Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) index increased by 70.02 points, or 0.58%, during the week, to close at 12,049.85. Market capitalisation increased by 0.53% to reach QR646.93bn compared to QR643.51bn at the end of the previous week. Of the 43 listed companies, 24 ended the week higher, while 18 fell and 1 remained unchanged. Gulf Warehousing Co (GWCS) was the best performing stock for the week, with a gain of 9.44% on 653,349 shares traded. On the other hand, Vodafone Qatar (VFQS) was the worst performing with a decline of 3.97% on 5.89mn shares traded.

QNB Group (QNBK), Qatar Electricity & Water Co (QEWS) and Barwa Real Estate Co (BRES) were positive contributors to the weekly index gain. QNBK was the biggest contributor, adding 40.85 points to the index’s weekly gain of 70.02 points. QEWS contributed 23.44 points, while BRES contributed 22.23 points. On the other hand, Industries Qatar (IQCD), VFQS and Ooredoo (ORDS) contributed negatively to the index. IQCD and VFQS shaved off 29.91 and 8.08 points from the index, respectively.

Trading value during the week decreased by 12.69% to reach QR1.71bn vs. QR1.96bn in the prior week. The banks and financial services sector led the trading value during the week, accounting for 29.22% of the total trading value. The industrials sector was the second biggest contributor, accounting for 27.04% of the total. Gulf International Services (GISS) was the top value traded stock during the week with total traded value of QR203.82mn.

Trading volume decreased by 3.13% to reach 42.85mn shares vs. 44.23mn shares in the prior week. The number of transactions decreased by 3.36% to reach 24,253 versus 25,097 in the prior week. The real estate sector led the trading volume, accounting for 25.43%, followed by the banks and financial services sector, which accounted for 24.13% of the overall trading volume. VFQS was the top volume traded stock during the week with total traded volume of 5.89mn shares.

Foreign institutions turned bullish during the week with net buying of QR66.7mn vs. net selling of QR113.0mn in the prior week. Qatari institutions remained bullish with net buying of QR74.1mn vs. net buying of QR12.5mn the week before. Foreign retail investors turned bearish for the week with net selling of QR49.3mn vs. net buying of QR58.0mn in the prior week. Qatari retail investors turned bearish with net selling of QR91.7mn vs. net buying of QR42.7mn the week before. In 2015 year to date, foreign institutions sold (on a net basis) $79mn worth of Qatari equities.

Gulf Times