QSE Maintains Upward Trend As Foreign Funds Remain Bullish

Continuing its gaining trend for the second week in a row, the Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) index increased by 154.15 points, or 1.22 percent, during the shortened week due to public holiday on Tuesday to close at 12,808.93 points.

QSE’s market capitalisation increased by 0.87 percent to QR731.2 billion as compared to QR724.9 billion at the end of the previous week.

Foreign institutions remained bullish, closing the week with net buying of QR392 million against net buying of QR452 million in the previous week. Foreign retail investors, however, turned bearish closing the week with net selling of QR16 million against net buying of QR8 million in the previous week.

Qatari institutions remained negative with net selling of QR95 million against net selling of QR108 million in the week before. Qatari retail investors also remained bearish with net selling of QR282 million against net selling of QR352 million the week before.

Trading value during the week went up by 5.8 percent to QR3,097.1 million against QR2,926.2 million in the previous trading week. 

QNB was the top value traded stock during the week with a total traded value of QR670.7 million.

The trading volume during the week increased by 5.4 percent to 901.9 million shares against 855.4 million shares in the previous trading week.

 Salam International was the top volume traded stock during the week with a total traded volume of 223.1 million shares.

The number of transactions, however, declined 4.8 percent to 59,545 against 62,563 in the previous week.

Islamic Holding Group was the best performing stock for the week, with a gain of 20.3 percent. On the other hand, Qatar Industrial Manufacturing Company (QIMC) was the worst-performing stock with a decline of 7.2 percent.

Industries Qatar (IQ), Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding Company (MPHC) and Qatar Aluminum Manufacturing Company (Qamco) were the primary contributors to the weekly index gain. IQ and MPHC added 170.5 and 36.2 points to the index, respectively. Moreover, Qamco added another 9.4 points to the index.

Of the 47 traded companies, 25 closed the week higher. While 21 stocks ended lower, one stock remained unchanged.

The week saw three out of the seven sector index close in the positive territory. 

The industrial sector, which gained almost 6 percent on the back of over 9 percent gain in its main component Industries Qatar, was the best performing sector index for the week.

Meanwhile, Abdulla Al Khater, stock market expert and economic analyst, said that the QSE index will not stop at the 13,000-point barrier in the next stage and head towards breaking the 14,000-point barrier to return to its previous levels before the COVID-19 crisis in clear evidence of the recovery that listed companies are going through,

In an exclusive interview with QNA, Khater pointed out that the index and the national economy benefits from the rise in oil prices in global markets and from the purchasing power of the dollar. 

Considering that the Qatari riyal is linked to the dollar, Khater said, strength in the dollar means more stability for the QSE index.

Khater stressed the solid foundations of the national economy, whether related to infrastructure or in terms of the institutions’ ability to deal with changes, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic and their ability to withstand and continue working, in addition to the incentive measures taken by the state to revive the economy and accompany companies to manage their new reality with the closures resulting from the precautionary measure will help QSE break the 14,000-point barrier.

Khater said that the stability of the stock market index means fewer risks and greater polarisation for foreign portfolios, which find in the strength of the national economy a safe haven that encourages more liquidity injections into the market, pointing to the realistic vision and sound planning of the decision-maker, especially with the completion of a conservative budget that contributes to more control over expenditures and management of resources away from high levels of deficit.