Banking on hopes of production cut by oil producers, which has already led Brent to trade above $35 a barrel; Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) was the fourth best performer in the Gulf region, witnessing QR22bn addition in capitalisation, during the week.

Foreign institutions and individual investors were seen extending the bullish fervour to the market during the week which witnessed global credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) say that Qatari banks are expected to see a dent in their profitability this year on slower lending growth and higher credit losses.

Telecom, consumer goods, transport, real estate and banking stocks witnessed stronger buying during the week which also featured that S&P say shareholders in banks in Qatar may see receive lower dividend for 2015 due to tough operating environment and the need for higher capital requirements.

The week started with a gain and sustained its momentum for the next two days but only to see profit booking to take the index to a low of 9,487 points on Wednesday. The substantial buying interests on the last day drove the index again up to a high of 9,684 points during the week.

About 77% of the stocks extended gains to investors during the week which saw QNB, the country's largest lender, eye as much as 40% of its net profit from overseas operations by 2017 as it embarked on an effective strategy, which include ramping up international asset management fund offering across selected markets and strengthening fund distribution capabilities in Europe, Asia and Africa.

Despite stronger selling by local retail investors and institutions, the 20-stock Qatar Index soared 4.44% during the week which saw Invest AD view that the Gulf Cooperation Council bourses are expected to be “weak and volatile” over the next quarter with regional investors “unlikely” to enhance equity market allocations.

Dubai gained 7.04%, Abu Dhabi (5.89%), Muscat (4.46%), Kuwait (3.75%), Saudi Arabia (1.58%) and Bahrain (0.47%) during the week which witnessed Bank of America Merrill Lynch keep Qatar's external debt at “underweight” as its savings “cushions” sovereign creditworthiness.

QSE has fallen 7.15% year-to-date against 13.58% in Saudi Arabia, 7.42% in Kuwait, 3.87% in Abu Dhabi, 3.19% in Bahrain, 3.07% in Muscat and 2.94% in Dubai.

Buying interests were seen intense particularly in the large and small cap equities in the QSE during the week which saw surge in total trade turnover and volumes.

The index that tracks Shariah-principled stocks was seen gaining faster than the other indices during the week which witnessed the banking, realty, industrials and consumer goods sectors together account for about 81% of the total trading volume.

The 20-stock Total Return Index soared 4.79%, All Share Index (comprising wider constituents) by 4.91% and Al Rayan Islamic Index by 5.28% during the week which saw Ezdan, Gulf International Services (GIS) and Masraf Al Rayan dominate the trading ring in terms of volume and value.

Telecom stocks appreciated 9.33%, consumer goods (9.26%), transport (7.51%), real estate (7.39%), banks and financial services (5.65%), industrials (0.62%) and insurance (0.07%) during the week which saw London Stock Exchange-listed Qatar Investment Fund aver that Doha is an “attractive” proposition for those who wish to invest in a high growth emerging market.

Market capitalisation expanded 4.43% to QR517.2bn with large, small, mid and micro cap equities gaining 4.56%, 4.55%, 3.41% and 1.99% respectively during the week.

Micro, small, mid and large cap stocks have however fallen year-to-date 12.9%, 10.4%, 6.86% and 6.16% respectively.

Of the 43 stocks, 33 advanced, while only nine declined and one was unchanged. As many as eight of the 12 banks and financial services; seven each of the nine industrials and the eight consumer goods; three each of the five insurers, the four realty and the three transport; and all of the two telecom stocks closed higher during the week.

Major gainers included Qatar Islamic Bank, Ezdan, Nakilat, Ooredoo, Aamal Company, Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding, Woqod, Commercial Bank, QIIB, al khaliji, Masraf Al Rayan, Alijarah Holding, Qatar Electricity and Water and Qatar General and Reinsurance; even as GIS, Dlala, Doha Insurance, Qatari Investors Group and Qatar Insurance bucked the trend during the week.

Foreign institutions’ net buying increased to QR106.13mn against QR95.19mn the week ended January 28.

Non-Qatari retail investors turned net buyers to the tune of QR4.44mn compared with net sellers of QR8.06mn the previous week.

However, local retail investors’ net profit booking soared to QR44.81mn against QR23.5mn the week ended January 28.

Domestic institutions’ net selling also increased to QR65.9mn compared to QR63.78mn the previous week.

Total trade volume rose 6% to 45.08mn shares, value by 3% to QR1.39bn and transactions by 10% to 23,745 during the week.

The insurance sector’s trade volume grew almost six-fold to 1.66mn equities and value more than tripled to QR61.34mn on more than doubled deals to 698.

The consumer goods sector’s trade volume soared 65% to 6.22mn stocks and value more than doubled to QR179.19mn on almost doubled transactions to 3,400.

There was 26% surge in the telecom sector’s trade volume to 5.13mn shares, 40% in value to QR112.24mn and 12% in deals to 3,065.

However, the transport sector’s trade volume plummeted 12% to 1.79mn equities but value was up less than 1% to QR47.28mn. Transactions shrank 21% to 1,028.

The banks and financial services sector reported 6% plunge in trade volume to 11.6mn stocks and 21% in value to QR438.16mn but on 8% increase in deals to 6,914.

The industrials sector’s trade volume declined 6% to 7.82mn shares, value by 2% to QR351.39mn and transactions by 8% to 4,637.

The market witnessed 6% shrinkage in the real estate sector’s trade volume to 10.86mn equities but on 1% gain in value to QR195.73mn and 1% in deals to 4,003.

In the debt market, there was no trading of treasury bills and government bonds during the week.