The Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) index lost 464.46 points, or 4.43%, during the week to close at 10,014.82. Market capitalisation decreased by 3.97% to QR528.8bn versus QR550.6bn at the end of the previous week. Of the 43 listed companies, three companies ended the week higher, while 37 fell and three remained unchanged. Gulf Warehousing Co (GWCS) was the best performing stock for the week with a gain of only 0.5% on 15,814 shares traded. On the other hand, Islamic Holding Group (IHGS) was the worst performing stock with a decline of 17.1% on 51,063 shares traded.
Ezdan Holding Group (ERES), Industries Qatar (IQCD) and Qatar Insurance Co (QATI) were the primary contributors to the weekly index loss. ERES was the biggest contributor, shedding off 133.0 points from the index. IQCD was the second biggest contributor, erasing 63.1 points from the index. QATI pushed the index down by 45.7 points. On the other hand, Al-Meera Consumer Goods Co (MERS) was the only name that added a marginal 0.1 point to the index.
Trading value during the week decreased by 42.6% to reach QR1.4bn versus QR2.5bn in the prior week. The banks and financial services sector led the trading value during the week, accounting for 44.8% of the total trading value. The industrials sector was the second biggest contributor to the overall trading value, accounting for 24.0% of the total trading value. Masraf Al Rayan (MARK) was the top value traded stock during the week with total traded value of QR227.5mn.
Trading volume decreased by 47.0% to reach 33.9mn shares versus 64.0mn in the prior week. The number of transactions fell by 21.9% to reach 20,181 versus 25,849 in the prior week. The banks and financial services sector led the trading volume, accounting for 33.8%, followed by the real estate sector, which accounted for 21.3% of the overall trading volume. MARK was also the top volume traded stock during the week with total traded volume of 6.2mn shares.
Foreign institutions remained bearish during the week with net selling of QR341.0mn versus net selling of QR275.8mn in the prior week. Qatari institutions remained bullish with net buying of QR359.1mn versus net buying of QR236.1mn the week before. Foreign retail investors remained bearish for the week with net selling of QR17.7mn versus net selling of QR7.5mn in the prior week. Qatari retail investors turned bearish with net buying of QR432.8k versus net buying of QR47.0mn the week before.
In 2015 year-to-date, foreign institutions bought (on a net basis) $480.0mn worth of Qatari equities.

Technical analysis of the QSE index

The QSE Index dropped by 4.43% and closed at 10,014.82 points versus the week before. The trend continues to be down and the Hammer candlestick created last week was refuted by a drop in the Index below that candle’s low. Traded volumes retracted than the week before, and the only good news we can add is that the index is at an important support of 10,000 points. Once that support is broken downwards, we will be looking at the 9,600 points as the next weekly support level. Resistance remains at 11,300 points.

Definitions of key terms used in technical analysis

Candlestick chart – A candlestick chart is a price chart that displays the high, low, open, and close for a security. The ‘body’ of the chart is portion between the open and close price, while the high and low intraday movements form the ‘shadow’. The candlestick may represent any time frame. We use a one-day candlestick chart (every candlestick represents one trading day) in our analysis.
Doji candlestick pattern – A Doji candlestick is formed when a security’s open and close are practically equal. The pattern indicates indecisiveness, and based on preceding price actions and future confirmation, may indicate a bullish or bearish trend reversal.

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