During the shortened week (3-day), the Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) Index increased by 79.04 points, or 0.8% to close at 9,964.22. Market capitalisation increased by 0.9% to QR537.6bn versus QR532.7bn at the end of the previous week. Of the 44 listed companies, 34 companies ended the week higher, while 6 fell and 4 remained unchanged. Islamic Group Holding (IHGS) was the best performing stock for the week with a gain of 11.3% on 171,209 shares traded. On the other hand, Zad Holding (ZHCD) was the worst performing stock with a decline of 9.2% on 60 shares traded only.
Ezdan Holding Group (ERES), QNB Group (QNBK) and Qatar Electricity & Water Co (QEWS) and were the primary contributors to the weekly index gains. ERES was the biggest contributor to the index’s weekly increase, adding 28.0 points to the index. QNBK was the second biggest contributor to the gain, contributing 18.3 points to the index. Moreover, QEWS tacked on 10.9 points to the index. On the other hand, Qatar Insurance Co (QATI) deleted 10.3 from the index.
Trading value during the week decreased by 54.5% to reach QR274.0mn versus QR602.3mn in the prior week. The Banks and Financial Services sector led the trading value during the week, accounting for 29.7% of the total trading value. The Industrials sector was the second biggest contributor to the overall trading value, accounting for 27.8% of the total trading value. QEWS was the top value traded stock during the week with total traded value of QR33.4mn.
Trading volume decreased by 68.3% to reach 5.9mn shares versus 18.7mn shares in the prior week. The number of transactions decreased by 56.4% to reach 4,546 transactions versus 10,419 transactions in the prior week. The Banks and Financial Services sector led the trading volume, accounting for 27.9%, followed by the Industrials sector, which accounted for 20.9% of the overall trading volume. Gulf International Services (GISS) was the top volume traded stock during the week with total traded volume of 626,808mn shares.
Foreign institutions remained bullish during the week with net buying of QR37.3mn vs buying of QR79.0mn in the prior week. Qatari institutions remained bearish with net selling of QR31.2mn vs net selling of QR30.1mn the week before. Foreign retail investors turned bullish for the week with net buying of QR780,779 vs net selling of QR13.6mn in the prior week. Qatari retail investors remained bearish with net selling of QR6.9mn vs net selling of QR35.3mn the week before. In 2016 YTD, foreign institutions bought (on a net basis) ~$455mn worth of Qatari equities.