More than QR20bn added to capitalisation on higher FOL, Q1 results

Higher foreign ownership limits and buoyancy in the first quarter financials had their way in lifting the Qatar Stock Exchange to near-9,200 levels and add capitalisation more than QR20bn this week.

More than 69% of the traded constituents extended gains this week which saw Qatar and China explore opportunities, including mutual listing of Qatari and Chinese exchange traded funds (ETFs) in both markets.Foreign funds’ substantially strengthened buying interests helped the 20-stock Qatar Index gain 278 points or 3.12% this week which saw Qatar Industrial Manufacturing Company (QIMD) considering setting up a float glass project with an estimated initial investment of QR700mn.The market saw robust demand, especially for mid and large cap equities this week which witnessed Al Khaliji report QR169.49mn net profit in the first three months of this year.Real estate, banking and insurance sectors were seen considerably outperforming the market this week which saw Commercial Bank register net profit of QR404.69mn in the first quarter (Q1) of 2018.Notwithstanding the overall bullish outlook, there was increased net selling pressure from domestic funds this week which saw Masraf Al Rayan net profit at QR531mn in Q1, 2018.The Islamic stocks were seen gaining slower than the conventional ones this week which saw Ahli Bank's net profit stand at QR176.09mn in January-March this year.The market witnessed a total volume of 0.54mn QATR valued at QR12.69mn trade across 220 transactions and as many as 0.04mn QETF valued at QR4.15mn change hands across 47 deals this week which saw Qatar National Cement's Q1 2018 net profit at QR90.26mn.The Total Return Index soared 3.12%, All Share Index 4.36% and Al Rayan Islamic Index 2.48% this week which saw no trading of treasury bills and sovereign bonds.The realty index surged 10.66%, banks and financial services (5.6%), insurance (3.26%), telecom (1.19%), industrials (1%) and consumer good (0.88%); while transport declined 0.7% this week which saw Vodafone Qatar, Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding, QNB and Doha Bank dominated trading ring in volumes and value.Major movers included Ezdan, Al Khaleej Takaful, Aamal Company, Barwa, Doha Bank, Commercial Bank, Widam Food, Qatar Insurance, Vodafone Qatar and QIMD; even as Zad Holding, Mannai Corporation, Dlala and Alijarah Holding were among the losers this week which saw telecom, banking and industrials sectors accounted for more than 76% of total trade volumes.The telecom sector accounted for 32% of the total trading volume, banks and financial services and industrials (22% each), realty (12%), transport (6%), consumer goods (3%) and insurance (2%) this week.The banks and financial sector’s share in total trade turnover was 36%, industrials (23%), telecom (14%), consumer goods and real estate (9% each), transport (5%) and insurance (3%) this week.Non-Qatari institutions’ net buying strengthened significantly to QR192.14mn against QR74.45mn the week ended April 12.Local retail investors’ net selling weakened influentially to QR31.13mn compared to QR44.9mn the previous week.Non-Qatari individuals’ net profit booking declined perceptibly to QR4.61mn against QR18.51mn a week ago.However, domestic funds’ net selling increased substantially to QR156.25mn compared to QR11.05mn the week ended April 12.Total trade volume rose 26% to 61.43mn shares, value by less than 1% to QR1.44bn and transactions by 13% to 19,886.The telecom sector’s trade volume almost tripled to 19.73mn equities and value more than doubled to QR207.24mn on 56% increase in deals to 2,594.The market witnessed 47% surge in the transport sector’s trade volume to 3.81mn stocks, 21% in value to QR66.42mn and 11% in transactions to 1,270.The banks and financial services sector’s trade volume shot up 16% to 13.58mn shares, value by 10% to QR525.26mn and deals by 13% to 6,327.The real estate sector reported 8% expansion in trade volume to 7.65mn equities, 43% in value to QR136.15mn and 39% in transactions to 2,922.However, the insurance sector’s trade volume plummeted 25% to 1.29mn stocks and value by 41% to QR37.44mn, while deals soared 17% to 653.There was 18% plunge in the industrials sector’s trade volume to 13.58mn shares, 34% in value to QR337.66mn and 1% in transactions to 4,536.The consumer goods sector’s trade volume was down 2% to 1.79mn equities, value by 9% to QR131.21mn and deals by 16% to 1,584.