Islamic index gains amidst overall gloom; M-cap erodes QR11bn

Foreign institutions were increasingly into buying in the Qatar Stock Exchange, which otherwise was in the negative turf this week.The Islamic benchmark was seen gaining even as the 20-stock Qatar Index settled 0.52% lower this week, which saw Qatar Electricity and Water report QR388.69mn net profit in the first quarter (Q1) of this year.The banks, telecom and real estate counters witnessed higher than average selling pressure this week, which saw Nakilat’s Q1 net profit at QR381.84mn.The domestic funds were increasingly net profit takers this week, which saw Milaha register QR360mn net profit in Q1, 2022.The Arab individuals were seen bearish this week, which saw Ahlibank register QR191.45mn net profit in Q1, 2022.The foreign individuals’ net buying was seen weakening this week, which saw United Development Company’s Q1 net profit at QR80mn.About 66% of the traded constituents were in the red this week, which saw Medicare Group report net profit of QR17.19mn this week.The Arab institutions continued to be net buyers but with lesser intensity this week, which saw Mannai Corporation agrees to sell its entire stake in Inetum at an enterprise value of €1.85bn.The local retail investors’ net selling weakened considerably this week, which saw a total of 769,354 Doha Bank-sponsored exchange traded fund QETF valued at QR10.51mn change hands across 168 transactions.The Gulf institutions were seen bullish this week, which saw as many as 388,428 Masraf Al Rayan-sponsored QATR worth QR1.2mn trade across 56 deals.Market capitalisation was seen eroding about QR11bn or 1.36% to QR781.04bn, mainly on large and midcap segments this week, which saw the industrials, banking and consumer goods sectors together constitute more than 82% of the trade volume.The Total Return Index shrank 0.5% and the All Share Index by 1%, while the All Islamic Index was up 0.29% this week which saw total trading volumes and value on the decline.The banks and financial services sector index tanked 1.79%, telecom (1.46%), realty (1.2%), consumer goods and services (0.14%) and insurance (0.08%); whereas transport gained 1.66% and industrials 0.09% this week, which saw no trading of sovereign bonds and treasury bills.Major losers in the main market included Zad Holding, Qatar Cinema, Qatari Investors Group, Baladna, QNB, Commercial Bank, Qatar First Bank, Qatari German Medical Devices, Medicare Group, Widam Food, Aamal Company, Gulf International Services, Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding, Qamco, QLM, Mazaya Qatar, Ooredoo and Ezdan. In the venture market, both Al Faleh Educational Holding and Mekdam Holding saw their shares depreciate in value this week.Qatar General Insurance and Reinsurance, Mannai Corporation, Dlala, Inma Holding, Milaha, Qatar Islamic Bank, QIIB, Woqod, Qatar National Cement, Industries Qatar and Al Khaleej Takaful were among the gainers in the main market this week.In the main market, the industrials sector accounted for 32% of the total trade volume, banks and financial services (26%), consumer goods and services (25%), real estate (11%), transport (3%), and telecom and insurance (2% each).In terms of value, the banks and financial sector’s share was 46%, industrials (31%), consumer goods and services (12%), realty and transport (4% each), and telecom (2%) and insurance (1%) this week.The domestic funds’ net profit booking increased notably to QR267.16mn against QR252.48mn the week ended April 14.The Arab individuals were net sellers to the tune of QR4.49mn compared with net buyers of QR23.99mn a week ago.The Gulf funds’ net buying weakened drastically to QR40.2mn against QR76.31mn the previous week.The Arab institutions’ net buying weakened perceptibly to QR0.5mn compared to QR6.63mn the week ended April 14.The foreign individuals’ net buying declined marginally to QR6.94mn against QR7.83mn a week ago.However, the foreign funds’ net buying grew markedly to QR308.36mn compared to QR275.36mn the previous week.The Gulf individuals turned net buyers to the extent of QR3.54mn against net sellers of QR4.17mn the week ended April 14.Qatari individuals’ net profit booking shrank considerably to QR87.9mn compared to QR133.46mn a week ago.Total trade volume in the main market fell 29% to 798.98mn shares, value by 36% to QR3bn and transactions by 32% to 72,177.The market witnessed a 37% plunge in the industrials sector’s trade volume to 258.09mn equities, 34% in value to QR931.24nn and 27% in deals to 18,839.The insurance sector’s trade volume plummeted 34% to 13.15mn stocks, value by 20% to QR44.21mn and transactions by 24% to 1,077.The telecom sector reported a 28% shrinkage in trade volume to 13.86mn shares, 31% in value to QR46.03mn and 43% in deals to 1,787.The banks and financial services sector’s trade volume tanked 26% to 204.25mn equities, value by 42% to QR1.37bn and transactions by 40% to 35,214.The market witnessed a 25% contraction in the real estate sector’s trade volume to 91.31mn stocks, 27% in value to QR133mn and 21% in deals to 4,162.The consumer goods and services sector’s trade volume shrank 23% to 196.12mn shares, value by 31% to QR360.48mn and transactions by 22% to 7,182.However, there was a 3% gain in the transport sector’s trade volume to 22.2mn equities, 16% in value to QR106.55mn and 36% in deals to 3,916.In the venture market, trade volumes decreased 67.63% to 0.45mn stocks, value by 72.47% to QR2.75mn and transactions by 67.88% to 229.