04/07/2011 00:00 AST
The Qatar Exchange opened the week on a stronger note yesterday as its key index gained a robust 1.41% to inch near the 8,500 mark.
The market extended the winning run to the fifth day, ahead of third-quarter results.
Foreign institutions were increasingly bullish as the 20-stock benchmark rose 118 points to close at 8,478.79.
The market is however down 2.34% year-to-date.
QNB, Industries Qatar, Qatar Islamic Bank, Commercialbank (Cb), Qatar Telecom, Masraf Al Rayan, Qatar Navigation and Nakilat were among the prime gainers.
Maximum buying interest was seen in insurance, whose index jumped 2.38%, followed by banks (1.61%), industry (1.34%) and services (0.98%).
Market capitalisation expanded 1.17% or more than QR5bn to QR450.27bn with large, small and mid cap equities notably gaining 1.41%, 1.19% and 0.92% respectively.
Of the 42 stocks, 28 advanced, while only nine declined, three were unchanged and two were not traded.
Foreign institutions were increasingly bullish as their net buying surged to 10.36% from 7.95% the previous trading day.
A higher 29.05% of them were into buying compared to 26.12% last Thursday although a marginally higher 18.69% were into selling against 18.17%.
Domestic institutions turned bullish as they were net buyers to the tune of 1.57% compared with net sellers of 3.08% the previous day.
A lower 32.95% of them bought equities against 36.14% last Thursday and a lower 31.38% of them also sold compared to 39.22%.
Qatari individual investors’ bearish grip strengthened as their net selling rose to 8.09% from 4.58% the previous day.
A marginally lower 29.58% of them purchased equities against 29.68% last Thursday whereas a higher 37.67% sold compared to 34.26%.
Non-Qatari retail investors were increasingly bearish as their net selling rose to 3.84% from 0.29% the previous day.
A marginally higher 8.42% of them were into buying compared to 8.06% last Thursday and a higher 12.26% were into offloading against 8.35%.
Total trading volume surged 27% to 6.49mn equities, value by 25% to QR243.25mn and deals by 25% to 3,915.
The insurance sector’s trading volume zoomed 67% to 0.05mn shares, value more than doubled to QR3.11mn on more than doubled transactions to 92.
The banks’ trading volume soared 56% to 2.51mn equities, value by 24% to QR109.03mn and deals by 21% to 1,660.
The industrial sector witnessed a 54% jump in trading volume to 0.57mn shares, value more than doubled to QR42.99mn and transactions gained 54% to 571.
The services sector’s trading volume was up 9% to 3.36mn shares, value by 4% to QR88.13mn and deals by 17% to 1,592.
Actively traded stocks (in terms of volume) were Rayan (1.48mn shares); Barwa (1.17mn); Nakilat (982,350); Vodafone Qatar (484,408) and Doha Bank (312,419).
Gulf Times
Please wait...
