QSE continues to gain as foreign funds turn bullish

Satyendra Pathak Doha Continuing its gaining trend for the second week in a row, the Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) index increased by 68 points, or 0.59 per...

Satyendra Pathak Doha Continuing its gaining trend for the second week in a row, the Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) index increased by 68 points, or 0.59 percent, during the week to close at 11,687.41 points. Foreign institutions turned bullish to lead the gains during the week. They closed the week with a net buying of QR65 million against net selling of QR11 million in the previous week. Foreign retail investors also ended the week with a net buying of QR1 million against a net buying of QR10 million in the previous week.According to an estimate by QNB Financial Services (QNBFS), as of Wednesday, foreigners are net buyers of Qatari stocks worth $1,660.4 million since the start of this year. Qatari institutions, however, turned negative with net selling of QR34 million against net buying of QR43 million in the week before. Qatari retail investors remained bearish with net selling of QR32 million against net selling of QR42 million the week before. Despite selling pressure from Qatari investors, the week saw QSE’s market capitalisation move up by 0.24 percent to QR669.2 billion as compared to QR667.6 billion at the end of the previous week.Trading value during the week increased by 6.9 percent to QR1,933.9 million against QR1,809.4 million in the previous trading week. QNB Group (QNBK) was the top value traded stock during the week with a total traded value of QR284.8 million.Trading volume also increased by 9.7 percent to 568.7 million shares against 518.2 million shares in the previous trading week. Gulf International Services (GIS) was the top volume traded stock during the week with a total traded volume of 62.9 million shares.The number of transactions, however, went down by 3.1 percent to 51,725 against 53,356 in the previous week. Masraf Al Rayan, Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) and United Development Company (UDC) were the primary contributors to the weekly index gain. Masraf Al Rayan and QIB added 26.9 and 18.9 points to the index, respectively. Moreover, UDC added another 13.9 points to the index.Of the 47 traded companies, 19 closed the week higher. While 26 stocks closed lower, there was no change in the share price of the remaining two stocks. UDC was the best performing stock for the week, with a gain of 5.7 percent. On the other hand, Gulf GIS was the worst-performing stock with a decline of 4.2 percent.The week saw four of the seven sector indices close in the positive territory. The real estate sector, which gained 2.42 percent, was the best performing sector index for the week. Meanwhile, the QSE announced that it will be closed on Sunday, December 19, 2021, to mark the occasion of Qatar National Day. The market will resume trading on Monday, December 20, 2021.