The Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) Index increased by 288.68 points, or 2.47% during the week, to close at 11,987.71. Market capitalisation increased by 1.80% to reach QR643.9bn as compared to QR632.5bn at the end of the previous week. Of the 43 listed companies, 32 companies ended the week higher, while 11 fell and none remained unchanged. Ezdan Holding Group (ERES) was the best performing stock for the week, with a gain of 9.8% on 12.7mn shares traded. On the other hand, Qatar Cinema & Film Distribution Co (QCFS) was the worst performing stock with a decline of 16.0% on only 199 shares traded.
Ezdan Holding Group (ERES), Industries Qatar (IQCD) and Barwa Real Estate Co (BRES) were the biggest contributors to the weekly index gain. ERES was the biggest contributor to the index’s weekly gain, contributing 121.2 points to the index’s weekly gain of 288.7 points. IQCD contributed 36.9 points to the weekly index gain. Further, BRES also contributed 32.0 points to the index’s weekly gain. On the other hand, QNB Group (QNBK), Qatar Insurance Co (QATI) and Nakilat (QGTS) contributed negatively to the index. QNBK and QATI shaved off 5.4 and 3.1 points from the index, respectively.  
Trading value during the week decreased by 13.1% to reach QR1.7bn vs QR1.9bn in the prior week. The Real Estate sector led the trading value during the week, accounting for 27.8% of the total equity trading value. The Banks & Financial Services sector was the second biggest contributor to the overall trading value, accounting for 23.7% of the total trading value. ERES was the top value traded stock during the week with total traded value of QR208.5mn.
Trading volume increased by 15.1% to reach 44.2mn shares vs 38.4mn shares in the prior week. The number of transactions decreased by 1.1% to reach 22,997 transactions versus 23,241 transactions in the prior week. The Real Estate sector led the trading volume, accounting for 45.0%, followed by the Banks & Financial Services sector, which accounted for 17.2% of the overall trading volume. ERES was also the top volume traded stock during the week with total traded volume of 12.7mn shares.
Foreign institutions remained bullish during the week with net buying of QR15.0mn vs net buying of QR125.3mn in the prior week. Qatari institutions remained bearish with net selling of QR19.8mn vs net selling of QR48.2mn the week before. Foreign retail investors remained bullish for the week with net buying of QR9.1mn vs net buying of QR41.0mn in the prior week. Qatari retail investors remained bearish with net selling of QR4.3mn vs. net selling of QR118.1mn the week before. In 2015 YTD, foreign institutions sold (on a net basis) ~$96mn worth of Qatari equities.