By Santhosh V Perumal
Business Reporter

Stronger selling -- especially in the telecom, industrials and realty sectors – led the Qatar Stock Exchange plummet 165 points during the week, which saw crude futures slide on rising US inventories and strengthening dollar.

Domestic institutions were seen increasingly into profit booking during the week that saw Gulf Warehousing announce new pricing mechanism for buying excess shares.

The bourse also witnessed reduced buying interests from local retail investors and foreign institutions during the week that saw Qatar to put together a state budget for 2016 that avoids a big deficit despite the effect on revenues from low oil and gas prices.

However, insurance and transport sectors saw buying interests during the week that saw the banking, transport, realty and industrials sectors constitute more than 78% of the overall trading volume.

The index that tracks Shariah-principled stocks was seen melting faster than the other indices in the market during the week.

Five of the seven sectors witnessed selling pressure as the 20-stock Qatar Index plunged 1.42% during the week that however saw a marginal increase in overall trading volumes.

The 20-stock Total Return Index shrank 1.42% and All Share Index (comprising wider constituents) by 1.37% and Al Rayan Islamic Index by 2.07% during the week.

Opening weak, the market was on a continuous slide during the entire five-day session to settle at a low of 11,435 points.

Telecom stocks plummeted 2.84%, industrials (2.82%), real estate (2.13%), consumer goods (1.65%) and banks and financial services (0.75%); whereas insurance and transport gained 1.67% and 0.51% respectively during the week.

Of the 43 stocks, as many as 32 declined, while only eight advanced and two were unchanged. Another one was not traded during the week.

Ten of the 12 banks and financial services, eight of the nine industrials, six of the eight consumer goods, three of the four realty, two each of the five insurers and the two telecoms, and one of the three transport stocks closed lower during the week.

Major losers include Industries Qatar, Gulf International Services, Aamal Company, Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding, Vodafone Qatar, Ooredoo, Alijarah Holding and Qatari German Company for Medical Devices; even as Qatar Islamic Bank, Nakilat and Qatar National Cement bucked the trend.

Market capitalisation shrank 1.3% or about QR8bn to QR600.15bn.

Domestic institutions’ net profit booking strengthened to QR79.8mn compared to QR65.72mn the previous week.

Local retail investors’ net buying weakened to QR32.08mn against QR34.56mn the week ended October 29.

Foreign institutions’ net buying also declined to QR25.43mn compared to QR26.83mn the previous week.

Non-Qatari retail investors’ net buying, however, soared to QR22.4mn against QR4.33mn the week ended October 29.

Total trade volume was up 2% to 29.08mn shares, while value was down less than 1% to QR1.17bn and transactions by 14% to 15,117 during the week.

The banks and financial services sector reported 66% surge in trade volume to 8.07mn equities and 34% in value to QR422.53mn but on 20% shrinkage in deals to 3,659.

The transport sector’s trade volume surged 37% to 5.47mn stocks, value by less than 1% to QR140.54mn and transactions by 9% to 2,479.

The market witnessed a 7% increase in the industrials sector’s trade volume to 4.32mn shares, 10% in value to QR294.59mn and 11% in deals to 3,827.

However, the insurance sector’s trade volume plummeted 36% to 0.25mn equities, value by 42% to QR18.95mn and transactions by 37% to 318.

The real estate sector saw 35% plunge in the trade volume to 4.93mn stocks, 46% in value to QR107.5mn and 40% in deals to 1,801.

The telecom sector’s trade volume tanked 24% to 3.68mn shares, value by 27% to QR77.4mn and transactions by 15% to 1,716.

There was 15% shrinkage in the consumer goods sector’s trade volume to 2.36mn equities, 3% in value to QR105.18mn and 24% in deals to 1,317.

In the debt market, as many as 5,000 treasury bills valued at QR49.6mn changed hands across one transaction but there was no trading of government bonds during the week.