By Santhosh V. Perumal/Business Reporter

Qatar Stock Exchange Wednesday gained 54 points on the back of buying interests in the banking and transport equities, after three consecutive days of profit booking.
Local retail investors continued to be bullish but with lesser intensity as the 20-stock Qatar Index rose 0.47% to 11,558.13 points on higher overall volumes.
The index that tracks Shariah-principled stocks was seen gaining slower than the other indices in the market, which is, however, down 5.92% year-to-date.
The GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) and non-Qatari individual investors were also seen exerting buying pressure in the bourse, where trading was largely skewed towards the real estate and banking sectors, whose stocks together constituted about 71% of the overall trading volume.
Market capitalisation expanded 0.66% or QR4bn to QR609.63bn with large, small, micro and mid cap equities gaining 0.8%, 0.65%, 0.54% and 0.36% respectively.
The Total Return Index rose 0.47% to 17,965.46 points, All Share Index by 0.58% to 3,071.61 points and Al Rayan Islamic Index by 0.26% to 4,384.35 points.
Banks and financial services stocks gained 1.08%, transport (0.47%), consumer goods (0.34%), realty (0.31%), industrials (0.21%), telecom (0.12%) and insurance (0.02%).
About 66% of the stocks extended gains with major movers being QNB, Commercial Bank, Doha Bank, Industries Qatar, Alijarah Holding, Mannai Corporation, Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding, Barwa, Ooredoo and United Development Company; even as Qatar Islamic Bank and Islamic Holding Group bucked the trend.
Local retail investors’ net buying had fallen to QR28.95mn against QR29.28mn on September 15.
Non-Qatari individual investors’ net buying rose to QR10.24mn compared to QR8.09mn on Tuesday.
The GCC individual investors’ net buying also rose to QR1.39mn against QR0.18mn the previous day.
The GCC institutions’ net profit booking sunk to QR10.98mn compared to QR17.32mn on September 15.
Non-Qatari institutions’ net selling shrank to QR0.29mn against QR2.35mn on Tuesday.
However, domestic institutions’ net profit booking strengthened to QR29.34mn compared to QR17.86mn the previous day.
Total trade volume rose 4% to 5.41mn shares, value by 3% to QR204.48mn and deals by 9% to 3,589.
The transport sector’s trade volume grew more than five-fold to 0.28mn equities and value more than doubled to QR6.53mn on more than doubled transactions to 196.
The consumer goods sector saw 42% surge in trade volume to 0.17mn equities, while there was 3% fall in value to QR6.63mn and 7% in deals to 151.
The banks and financial services sector’s trade volume soared 32% to 2.1mn stocks, value by 13% to QR98.96mn and 27% in transactions to 1,193.
There was 25% expansion in the insurance sector’s trade volume to 0.05mn shares and 56% in value to QR4.24mn but on 27% shrinkage in deals to 54.
The industrials sector’s trade volume was up 2% to 0.6mn equities and value by 5% to QR39.53mn, while transactions fell 2% to 940.
However, the market witnessed 26% shrinkage in the real estate sector’s trade volume to 1.74mn shares and 14% in value to QR38.42mn, even as deals rose 29% to 730.
The telecom sector’s trade volume plunged 4% to QR0.47mn equities, value by 40% to QR10.18mn and transactions by 36% to 325.
In the debt market, there was no trading of treasury bills and government bonds.