QSE resumes weekly gain as foreign funds turn bullish

Satyendra Pathak Doha Qatar’s stock exchange resumed weekly gain as foreign institutions turned bullish during the last trading week. The Qatar Stock Exc...

Satyendra Pathak Doha Qatar’s stock exchange resumed weekly gain as foreign institutions turned bullish during the last trading week.The Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) general index increased 20.32 points, or 0.19 percent, during the week to close at 10,743.45 points. Foreign institutions closed the week with a net buying of QR73 million against net selling of QR6 million in the previous week. Foreign retail investors also remained bullish throughout the week as they closed the week with a net buying of QR7 million against a net buying of QR12 million in the previous week.According to an estimate by QNB Financial Services (QNBFS), foreign investors were net buyers of Qatari stocks worth $663 million since the beginning of this year.Qatari retail investors also remained bullish with net buying of QR24 million against net buying of QR38 million in the previous week. Qatari institutions, however, remained bearish with net selling of QR104 million against net selling of QR45 million in the week before. Market capitalisation went down marginally by 0.04 percent to QR623.9 billion as compared to QR624.1 billion at the end of the previous week. Trading value during the week increased by 15.9 percent to reach QR2.294 billion against QR1.98 billion in the previous week. Industries Qatar (IQ) was the top value traded stock during the week with a total traded value of QR525.4 million.Trading volume, however, declined by 17.9 percent to 730.8 million shares against 890.4 million shares in the previous trading week. Salam International Investment Limited (SIIS) was the top volume traded stock during the week with a total traded volume of 98.6 million shares.The number of transactions also declined by 4.4 percent to 44,603 versus 46,638 in the previous week. Qatar General Insurance and Reinsurance Company was the best performing stock for the week with a gain of 5.6 percent. On the other hand, QLM Life and Medical Insurance (QLM) was the worst-performing stock with a decline of 3.7 percent.IQ gained 3.9 percent, followed by Al Meera Consumer Goods Company (2.4 percent) Mannai Corporation (2.39 percent), Qatar Electricity and Water Company (1.76 percent) to be among the top five gainers for the week.IQ, Qatar International Islamic Bank (QIIB), Qatar Electricity and Water Company (QEWC) were the primary contributors to the weekly index increase. IQ and QIIB added 60.5 and 8.6 points to the index. QEWC added an additional 7.7 points to the index.Of the 48 listed companies, 17 ended the week higher, While 29 stocks declined, there was no change in the share prices of the remaining two stocks.Four out of seven sector indices closed in the positive territory. The industrial sector, which gained 1.7 percent, was the best performing sector index for the week. The week witnessed the Qatar Financial Market Authority (QFMA) approving merger of Masraf Al Rayan and al khaliji.During the week, the Mannai Corporation announced that its board of directors’ meeting held on June 16 approved discussed administrative and operational matters of the company.Salam International also announces the results of its board of directors’ meeting held on June 16. The meeting approved and followed up on the implementation of previous resolutions, continued evaluations of the company’s current projects and execution of the subsidiaries and business units’ plans. The Doha Bank announced that its board of directors will be holding a meeting on July 27 to discuss the financial statements of the first half of 2021 and approve it.