DOHA: Qatar’s bourse ended the week in green, after rising 1.46 percent or 168 points to 11,699. Barring Insurance, the entire sector indices advanced. The market is 4.78 percent down year-to-date.
Masraf Al Rayan, Ooredoo and Industries Qatar were the top gainers yesterday. A total of 7 million shares worth QR338m exchanged hands yesterday. Barwa Real Estate was the big mover of the day. The real estate major traded over 1.4 million shares worth QR66m.
Transportation sector outperformed the sector indices by gaining 1.6 percent, followed by the Telecoms (1.56 percent), Industrials (1.51 percent), Banks (1.50 percent), Real estate (0.77 percent), Insurance (0.69 percent) and Consumer Goods (0.54 percent). Weighed down by Qatar General Insurance and Reinsurance (QGRI), the insurance sector lost 0.69 percent. QGRI plunged 4.35 percent.
The Qatar Exchange (QE) weekly report noted the bourse gained 2.53 percent or 288 points during the four-day session in the past week. Market cap rose by 2.43 percent to QR632bn. Trading value increased by 5.62 percent to QR1.8bn. Trading volume decreased by 0.75 percent to reach 38 million shares. Total number of transactions fell by 7.23 percent to 23,241 transactions during the week.
Of the 43 listed companies, 31 ended higher in the past week, while 11 fell and one remained unchanged.
The banks and financial service sector led trading value, accounting for 39.01 percent, followed by industrials sector, real estate and consumer goods and services. The trading volume was also led by the banks and financial services, followed by real estate, the industrials and telecoms.
QNB led trading value during the week, accounting for 11.47 percent of the total trading value, followed by Gulf International (10.63 percent) and Barwa Real Estate (10.51 percent).
Meanwhile, most Gulf markets rose alongside oil yesterday but fresh weakness in the commodity late in the day dampened sentiment in Saudi Arabia. Egyptian investors dumped most stocks in order to buy newly listed food maker Edita, Reuters reported.
The main Saudi stock index, which had risen as much as 0.7 percent early in the day, closed 0.9 percent lower with most stocks in the red.
Dubai’s stock index jumped 2.4 percent to 3,615 points on heavy volume after rising above technical resistance at its late March high of 3,538 points. The break triggered a minor bullish right triangle pointing up to the 3,800-point area.
Abu Dhabi’s market climbed 1.0 percent as most blue chips rallied, with the exception of telecommunications firm Etisalat, whose shares stopped carrying the 2014 dividend and fell 2.2 percent.
Egypt’s bourse was the weakest among major Middle East markets, dropping 2.3 percent as investors rushed to buy shares in food maker Edita, which started trading on Thursday and is not part of the benchmark.
The Peninsula
