The Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) index gained 259.51 points, or 2.8%, during the trading week to close at 9,459.61. Market capitalisation increased by 1.9% to QR514.4bn versus QR504.7bn at the end of the previous trading week. Of the 45 listed companies, 26 ended the week higher, while 16 declined and three remained unchanged. Gulf International Services Co (GISS) was the best performing stock for the week with a gain of 10.4% on 1.1mn shares traded. On the other hand, Islamic Holding Group (IHGS) was the worst performing stock for the week with a decline of 16.0% on 428.2k shares traded.
Barwa Real Estate Co (BRES), Industries Qatar (IQCD) and Qatar Electricity & Water Co (QEWS) were the primary contributors to the weekly index gains. BRES was the biggest contributor to the index’s weekly increase, adding 50.7 points to the index. IQCD was the second biggest contributor to the mentioned gains, adding 43.3 points to the index. Moreover, QEWS added 27.8 points to the index. However, Qatari Investors Group (QIGD) shed 15.3 points off the index.
Trading value during the week decreased by 2.6% to reach QR1.51bn versus QR1.55bn in the prior week. The banks and financial services sector led the trading value during the week, accounting for 45.2% of the total trading value. The consumer goods and services sector was the second biggest contributor to the overall trading value, accounting for 16.3% of the total trading value. QNB Group (QNBK) was the top value traded stock during the week with total traded value of QR151.2mn.
Trading volume decreased by 16.2% to reach 60.2mn shares versus 71.8mn in the prior week. The number of transactions fell by 9.0% to reach 21,887 versus 24,058 in the prior week. The banks and financial services sector led the trading volume, accounting for 49.2%, followed by the real estate sector which accounted for 17.4% of the overall trading volume. Qatar First Bank (QFBQ) was the top volume traded stock during the week with 17.9mn shares.
Foreign institutions remained bullish with net buying of QR13.4mn versus net buying of QR36.1mn in the prior week. Qatari institutions remained bullish with net buying of QR114.6mn versus net buying of QR48.2mn in the week before. Foreign retail investors remained bearish with net selling of QR1.7mn versus net selling of QR28.4mn in the prior week. Qatari retail investors remained bearish with net selling of QR126.3mn versus net selling of QR55.9mn the week before.
Foreign institutions bought (on a net basis) $55mn worth of Qatari equities since the beginning of 2018.
