The Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) index lost 240.26 points, or 1.98%, during the week, to close at 11,880.82. Market capitalisation decreased by 2.05% to reach QR632.15bn compared to QR645.39bn at the end of the previous week. Of the 43 listed companies, eight ended the week higher, while 32 fell and three remained unchanged. Qatar German Co for Medical Devices (QGMD) was the best performing stock for the week, with a gain of 2.20% on 1.2mn shares traded. On the other hand, Industries Qatar (IQCD) was the worst performing with a decline of 5.47% on 865,019 shares traded.
IQCD, QNB Group (QNBK) and Barwa Real Estate (BRES) were the primary contributors to the weekly index decline. IQCD was the biggest contributor to the weekly decrease, shaving off 77.77 points from the index. QNBK erased 45.39 points from the index. Further, BRES shed another 26.15 points. On the other hand, Qatar Insurance Co (QATI) and Commercial Bank of Qatar (CBQK) contributed positively to the index. QATI and CBQK contributed 9.23 and 1.78 points, respectively.
Trading value during the week decreased by 24.81% to reach QR990.8mn vs QR1.32bn in the prior week. The real estate sector led the trading value during the week, accounting for 31.11% of the total trading value. The banks and financial services sector was the second biggest contributor to the overall trading value, accounting for 30.34% of the total trading value. BRES was the top value traded stock during the week with total traded value of QR241.0mn.
Trading volume decreased by 20.54% to reach 20.94mn shares vs 26.36mn in the prior week. The number of transactions decreased by 14.66% to reach 11,954 versus 14,007 in the prior week. The real estate sector also led the trading volume, accounting for 40.15%, followed by the banks and financial services sector, which accounted for 21.07% of the overall trading volume. BRES was also the top volume traded stock during the week with total traded volume of 4.8mn shares.
Foreign institutions turned bearish during the week with net selling of QR107.5mn vs net buying of QR7.3mn in the prior week. Qatari institutions remained bullish with net buying of QR47.8mn vs net buying of QR197.7mn the week before. Foreign retail investors turned bearish for the week with net selling of QR8.4mn vs net buying of QR30.9mn in the prior week. Qatari retail investors turned bullish with net buying of QR68.3mn vs net selling of QR236.0mn the week before.
In 2015 year to date, foreign institutions bought (on a net basis) $480mn worth of Qatari equities.