The Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) index gained 90.70 points, or 0.88%, during the week to close at 10,376.2. Market capitalisation increased by 1.71% to QR554.0bn versus QR544.7bn at the end of the previous week. Of the 43 listed companies, 25 ended the week higher, while 17 fell and two remained unchanged. Qatari Investors Group (QIGD) was the best performing stock for the week with a gain of 44.9% on 3.7mn shares traded. On the other hand, Qatar International Islamic Bank (QIIK) was the worst performing with a decline of 6.2% on 293,329 shares traded. The decline was due to the stock going ex-dividend.
Ooredoo (ORDS), Ezdan Holding Group (ERES) and Qatar Electricity & Water Co (QEWS) were the primary contributors to the weekly index gain. ORDS was the biggest contributor, adding 32.1 points to the index. ERES was the second biggest contributor, contributing 29.1 points to the index. Moreover, QEWS tacked on 23.5 points to the index. On the other hand, Qatar Islamic Bank (QIBK) contributed negatively, shedding 21.5 points off the index.
Trading value during the week decreased by 4.47% to reach QR1.8bn versus QR1.9bn in the prior week. The banks and financial services sector led the trading value during the week, accounting for 40.0% of the total. The industrials was the second biggest contributor to the overall trading value, accounting for 25.0% of the total. QIGD was the top value traded stock during the week with total value of QR194.2mn.
Trading volume decreased by 5.9% to reach 48.4mn shares versus 51.4mn in the prior week. The number of transactions decreased by 2.1% to reach 25,810 versus 26,356 in the prior week. The banks and financial services sector led the trading volume, accounting for 29.1%, followed by the industrials, which accounted for 22.0% of the overall trading volume. MARK was the top volume traded stock during the week with total volume of 5.1mn shares.
Foreign institutions remained bullish during the week with net buying of QR212.8mn versus net buying of QR168.6mn in the prior week. Qatari institutions remained bearish with net selling of QR76.1mn versus net selling of QR113.5mn the week before. Foreign retail investors remained bearish for the week with net selling of QR23.3mn versus net selling of QR3.8mn in the prior week. Qatari retail investors remained bearish with net selling of QR113.4mn versus net selling of QR51.3mn the week before.
In 2016 year-to-date, foreign institutions bought (on a net basis) $193mn worth of Qatari equities.