(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Qatar Stock Exchange witnessed four of the five trading session under bearish spell and its key index lost 240 points and capitalisation by more than QR13bn during the week which saw Greece vote 'No' to austerity measures imposed by the International Monetary Fund, European Commission and European Central Bank.
Foreign institutions and non-Qatari individual investors squared off their position and domestic institutions' net buying considerably weakened during the week which witnessed the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics disclose that Qatar's economy estimated to have grown 4.1% in the first quarter of this year in view of the support from the non-hydrocarbon sector.
Profit booking was seen stronger, especially in the industrials and real estate, as the 20-stock Qatar Index plunged 1.98% during the week which saw Barwa Real Estate outline QR15bn capital expenditure for the next five years as part of efforts to achieve a minimum 15% return of equity and doubling of shareholders' equity by 2020.
In comparison, Dubai fell 1.75%, Bahrain (1.17%), Kuwait (0.69%), Abu Dhabi (0.4%) and Muscat (0.11%); while Saudi Arabia gained 1.59% during the week which witnessed QNB report 11% increase in net profit to QR5.6bn in the first six months of this year.
Qatar's bourse has so far (year-to-date) fallen 3.3% against Bahrain's 6.45% and Kuwait's 6.07%; even as Saudi Arabia reported 11.38% increase, Dubai (6.45%), Abu Dhabi (3.95%) and Muscat (1.47%).
"Markets are resilient enough because of the inherent opportunities and prospects in the domestic economy. The strong fundamentals are proof positive on encouraging returns for investors but will depend on a long term horizon," an analyst said in response to Greece crisis that otherwise rocked the global equity markets on Monday.
However, local retail investors turned bullish during the week which saw global credit rating agency Moody's view that the outlook for Qatar's banking system remains "stable", unchanged since 2010, as the Qatari government is to continue to deploy its ample resources to maintain high public spending over the next 12-18 months.
Opening the week on a weaker note, the index kept declining for the next three days with the sharpest ebb happening on Wednesday to take the index to a low of 11,787 points. However, buying interests on the last day reversed some of the lost grounds and the index settled at 11,881 points.
The index that tracks Shariah-principled stocks was seen melting faster in the market during the week which saw Doha Bank join the new 'Al Dhameen' portfolio risk programme of Qatar Development Bank in promoting the small and medium enterprises.
The 20-stock Total Return Index tanked 1.98%, All Share Index (comprising wider constituents) by 1.84% and Al Rayan Islamic Index by 2.08% during the week which witnessed the overall trade volumes decline.
Industrials stocks plummeted 3.44%, realty (2.46%), banks and financial services (1.28%), consumer goods and transport (1.13% each) and telecom (0.21%); whereas insurance rose 0.16% during the week which saw industrials, consumer goods and banking counters report the maximum shrinkage in volumes.
Of the 43 stocks, only eight gained, while 32 declined and three were unchanged during the week which saw real estate, banking and industrials sectors together constitute more than 73% of the overall trade volumes.
Eight each of the 12 banks and financial services and the nine industrials, five of the eight consumer goods, all of the four real estate, three each of the five insurers and the three transport and one of the two telecom sector equities close lower during the week.
More than 74% of the stocks were in the red with major losers being QNB, Industries Qatar, Barwa, Qatari Investors Group, Aamal Company, Masraf Al Rayan, Alijarah Holding, Qatar Electricity and Water, Vodafone Qatar and Nakilat; even as Ooredoo, Qatari German Company for Medical Devices, Commercial Bank, al khaliji and Al Meera bucked the trend during the week.
Market capitalisation eroded 2.05% to QR632.15bn with large, small, micro and mid cap equities melting 1.95%, 1.59%, 1.38% and 1.29% respectively during the week which witnessed Barwa and Masraf Al Rayan stocks dominate the trading ring in terms of both volume and value.
Large cap stocks have witnessed 10.37% plunge year-to-date compared to 11.88%, 6.44% and 2.35% increase in small, micro and mid caps respectively.
Foreign institutions turned net sellers to the tune of QR107.5mn compared with net buyers of QR6.32mn the week ended July 2.
Non-Qatari retail investors were also net profit takers to the extent of QR8.42mn against net buyers of QR26.62mn the previous week.
Domestic institutions' net buying substantially declined to QR47.76mn compared to QR170.37mn the week ended July 2.
However, local retail investors turned net buyers to the tune of QR68.26mn against net sellers of QR203.44mn the previous week.
Total trade volume fell 21% to 20.94mn shares, value by 25% to QR990.77mn and transactions by 15% to 11,954 during the week.
There was 39% plunge in the industrials sector's trade volume to 2.51mn equities, 32% in value to QR194.28mn and 17% in deals to 2,946.
The banks and financial services sector's trade volume plummeted 31% to 4.41mn stocks, value by 44% to QR300.59mn and transactions by 22% to 2,850.
The consumer goods sector saw 29% shrinkage in trade volume to 1.87mn shares, 11% in value to QR70.38mn and 9% in deals to 1,159.
The telecom sector's trade volume tanked 24% to 2.21mn equities, value by 38% to QR63.99mn and transactions by 1% to 1,883.
The market witnessed 13% decline in the insurance sector's trade volume to 0.27mn stocks, 16% in value to QR24.31mn and 32% in deals to 181.
The real estate sector's trade volume was down 10% to 8.41mn shares but value rose 15% to QR308.27mn. Transactions decreased 13% to 2,627.
However, the transport sector saw 80% surge in trade volume to 1.26mn equities and 44% in value to QR28.96mn but on 10% fall in deals to 308.
In the debt market, there was no trading of treasury bills and government bonds during the week.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.