Satyendra Pathak
Doha
Qatari stocks resumed weekly upward momentum as the Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) index increased by 234.40 points, or 1.75 percent, during the week to close at 13,631.97 points.
The week saw market capitalisation go up by 1.61 percent to QR770.1 billion as compared to QR757.9 billion at the end of the previous week.
Foreign institutions remained bullish, ending the week with a net buying of QR1 billion against a net buying of QR1.3 billion in the previous week. Foreign retail investors ended the week with a net buying of QR6 million against net selling of QR18 million in the previous week.
According to an estimate by QNB Financial Services (QNBFS), foreign institutions were net buyers of Qatari stocks worth $1.98 billion as of Wednesday’s closing since the start of the current financial year.
Qatari institutions, however, remained negative with net selling of QR912 million against net selling of QR880 million in the week before. Qatari retail investors also remained bearish with net selling of QR137 million against net selling of QR372 million in the week before.
Trading value during the week declined by 23.7 percent to QR4,138.6 million against QR5,427.4 million in the previous trading week. QNB Group (QNB) was the top value traded stock during the week with a total traded value of QR840 million.
Trading volume dropped by 29.9 percent to 1,104.5 million shares against 1,576.2 million shares in the previous trading week.
The number of transactions also went down by 6.4 percent to reach 91,755 versus 98,055 in the previous week. Qatar Aluminium Manufacturing Company (Qamco) was the top volume traded stock during the week with a total traded volume of 158.7 million shares.
Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), Industries Qatar (IQ) and Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding Company (MPHC) were the primary contributors to the weekly index gain. QIB and IQ added 98.8 and 61.3 points to the index, respectively. Moreover, MPHC contributed another 54.1 points to the index.
MPHC was the best performing stock for the week with a gain of 10.5 percent. On the other hand, Medicare was the worst-performing stock for the week, with a decline of 5.5 percent.
Commenting on the weekly performance of QSE, Fawaz Al Hajri, a Doha-based financial analyst, told Qatar News Agency that the strong performance of Qatari stocks was mainly because of two factors like the continued payment of good dividends, especially from stocks in the banking and industrial sector and the second factor was related to geopolitical developments that led to the rise in oil and gas prices.
Al Hajri highlighted that Qatari stocks are acting as a safe haven in light of the Russian-Ukrainian war, thanks to the trust foreign portfolios have placed in the Qatari market. He said that the recent period has seen the entry of big foreign portfolios to Qatar’s stock market.
He also said that the Qatari industrial sector has been recording strong growth, benefitting from the rise in energy prices, which reflected positively on the financial results of petrochemical companies. All these factors helped raise the index to levels not seen since 2014. He also said that fiscal spending related to the implementation of World Cup projects is stimulating different economic sectors like banking, real estate, and tourism.
Doha
Qatari stocks resumed weekly upward momentum as the Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) index increased by 234.40 points, or 1.75 percent, during the week to close at 13,631.97 points.
The week saw market capitalisation go up by 1.61 percent to QR770.1 billion as compared to QR757.9 billion at the end of the previous week.
Foreign institutions remained bullish, ending the week with a net buying of QR1 billion against a net buying of QR1.3 billion in the previous week. Foreign retail investors ended the week with a net buying of QR6 million against net selling of QR18 million in the previous week.
According to an estimate by QNB Financial Services (QNBFS), foreign institutions were net buyers of Qatari stocks worth $1.98 billion as of Wednesday’s closing since the start of the current financial year.
Qatari institutions, however, remained negative with net selling of QR912 million against net selling of QR880 million in the week before. Qatari retail investors also remained bearish with net selling of QR137 million against net selling of QR372 million in the week before.
Trading value during the week declined by 23.7 percent to QR4,138.6 million against QR5,427.4 million in the previous trading week. QNB Group (QNB) was the top value traded stock during the week with a total traded value of QR840 million.
Trading volume dropped by 29.9 percent to 1,104.5 million shares against 1,576.2 million shares in the previous trading week.
The number of transactions also went down by 6.4 percent to reach 91,755 versus 98,055 in the previous week. Qatar Aluminium Manufacturing Company (Qamco) was the top volume traded stock during the week with a total traded volume of 158.7 million shares.
Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), Industries Qatar (IQ) and Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding Company (MPHC) were the primary contributors to the weekly index gain. QIB and IQ added 98.8 and 61.3 points to the index, respectively. Moreover, MPHC contributed another 54.1 points to the index.
MPHC was the best performing stock for the week with a gain of 10.5 percent. On the other hand, Medicare was the worst-performing stock for the week, with a decline of 5.5 percent.
Commenting on the weekly performance of QSE, Fawaz Al Hajri, a Doha-based financial analyst, told Qatar News Agency that the strong performance of Qatari stocks was mainly because of two factors like the continued payment of good dividends, especially from stocks in the banking and industrial sector and the second factor was related to geopolitical developments that led to the rise in oil and gas prices.
Al Hajri highlighted that Qatari stocks are acting as a safe haven in light of the Russian-Ukrainian war, thanks to the trust foreign portfolios have placed in the Qatari market. He said that the recent period has seen the entry of big foreign portfolios to Qatar’s stock market.
He also said that the Qatari industrial sector has been recording strong growth, benefitting from the rise in energy prices, which reflected positively on the financial results of petrochemical companies. All these factors helped raise the index to levels not seen since 2014. He also said that fiscal spending related to the implementation of World Cup projects is stimulating different economic sectors like banking, real estate, and tourism.