Doha, Qatar: The majority of stocks in Qatar remained relatively stable throughout the week, reflecting investor caution amid the ongoing US-China trade tensions and ahead of the release of Q1 earnings reports. Despite the subdued activity, overall weekly performance was considered satisfactory, remarked an analyst.
Speaking to The Peninsula in an interview, Ramzi Qasmieh, Investment manager at Qatar Securities Company noted that the stock market activity resumed with limited price fluctuations, despite a preceding dip in trading volume following the Eid break.
However, financial results in the electricity and water sectors underperformed expectations, posting a 10 percent quarterly decline. This was largely attributed to lower interest income from deposits and a notable reduction in cash dividends from invested companies. Consequently, the company’s share price dropped more than 2.6 percent during Monday’s session.
Ramzi Qasmieh, Investment manager at Qatar Securities Company
While the broader market struggled with a 4.4 percent drop, the transport sector bucked the trend in 2024, gaining 4.5 percent in profits due to the robust performance of North Field Expansion-linked companies. This resilience lifted the sector index by around 7 percent.
To accommodate this growth, Qasmieh mentioned that additional carriers are being constructed. In contrast, the telecommunications sector has recorded a nearly 16 percent year-to-date increase in its index, driven largely by strong performances from Ooredoo and Vodafone. Both companies have posted notable profit growth and issued attractive dividends, contributing to sector momentum.
In 2024, the Qatar Stock Exchange saw limited listing activity, with the exception of a single company entering the startup market. The market stressed that “Industry participants are hopeful for a resurgence in the initial public offering market, driven by the introduction of several government-owned enterprises as part of the privatisation initiative, which is expected to enhance value for local investors.”
He said, “We expect that several large corporations will sell off portions of their subsidiaries and subsequently list these entities on the stock exchange, thereby expanding the total number of companies listed.”
The overall index is currently grappling with resistance at the 10,200-point level. To initiate a move towards the 10,450 to 10,500 range, regaining these levels is a critical requirement. “This recovery depends on the performance of major companies in the first quarter as well as the prevailing liquidity conditions,” Qasmieh said. Additionally, external factors from global markets contribute to this situation.
The decline in liquidity levels over the past year, and through the first quarter of this year, coupled with the reduced presence of Qatari companies in global indices such as FTSE and MSCI, has impacted investor behavior during this period. “This trend is especially notable as the performance of adjacent markets has outpaced that of the Qatari stock exchange, leading these indices and foreign investment funds to divest a portion of their holdings in the Qatari market in favor of investing in neighboring markets,” he added.
Yesterday, QSE ended its trading session on a positive note, rising by 32.57 points, or 0.32 percent, to settle at 10,139.29 points. Throughout the session, a total of 225,261,509 shares were traded, amounting to a value of QR 416,787,795.84, with 22,560 transactions executed across all sectors.
