Satyendra Pathak
Doha
Resuming the weekly gaining trend, the Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) index went up by 48.31 points, or 0.5 percent, during the week to close at 10,257.21 points.
Foreign institutions turned bullish, closing the week with net buying of QR38.9 million against net selling of QR38.5 million in the previous week.
Foreign retail investors also remained positive to close the week with net buying of QR0.1 million against net buying of QR32.5 million in theprevious week.
According to an estimate by QNB Financial Services (QNBFS), YTD as of today’s closing, global foreign institutions were net short $91.5 million, while GCC institutions were net buyers of Qatari stocks worth $433.9 million.
Qatari retail investors recorded net buying of QR17.4 million against net buying of QR82.7 million the weekbefore.
Qatari institutions, however, remained bearish with net selling of QR56.5 million against net selling of QR76.7 million in the week before.
Market capitalisation marginally rose 0.2 percent to reach QR607.4 billion compared with QR606 billion at the end of the previoustrading week.
The traded value during the week fell 47.9 percent to QR2,252 million from QR4,318.7 million in the previous trading week. Industries Qatar (IQ) was the top-value traded stock during the week with a total traded value of QR243.6 million.
Traded volume dropped 42.4 percent to 836.3 million shares compared to 1,450.7 million shares in the previous trading week. Mazaya Real Estate Development was the top volume traded stock during the week with a total traded volume of 93.6 million shares.
The number of transactions also dipped 20 percent to 86,432 against 108,067 in the previous week.
Of the 50 traded companies, 28 closed the week higher, 21 ended lower, and there was no change in the share price of the remaining stock.
Widam Food Company was the best-performing stock for the week, going up 9.4 percent. Whereas, Salam International was the worst-performing stock for the week, down 4.4 percent.
Commercial Bank, Qatar Islamic Bank and Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding Company were the primary contributors to the weekly index gain.
Commercial Bank and Qatar Islamic Bank added 39.01 points and 11.17 points to the index, respectively. Further, MPHC added another10.40 points.
Youssef Bouhlaika, a Doha-based financial market analyst, expected an improvement in the QSE performance in the coming period, driven by the purchases of foreign portfolios and benefiting from the decline in stocks during the current week’s sessions.
Speaking to QNA, Bouhlaika described QSE’s current status as stable, with investors tending to preserve shares and diversify their investment portfolios in anticipation of the semi-annual results of the listed companies, which will be announced in July.
Bouhlaika attributed the decline in liquidity during the current week to the dynamism introduced by Morgan Stanley’s reviews last week and the injection of significant liquidity into the market.
He stressed the great interest of foreign investment portfolios, especially the Gulf ones, in QSE due to the growing confidence in the listed companies and their ability to achieve rewarding returns for investors.
