Across-the-board selling pressure, particularly in telecom, consumer goods and industrials, weakened the Qatar Exchange (QE) as about 67% of the stocks were in the red and capitalisation eroded by more than QR6bn in the week.

However, consumer goods, telecom, insurance and industrials continued to extend double-digit positive returns to investors year-to-date (YTD), significantly outperforming the market average.

Despite the buying support from local retail investors, the QE Index (based on price data) and the Total Return Index (which also incorporates dividend income) fell 1.09% each in the week that saw Dubai bourse drop 2.60%, followed by Saudi Arabia (1.68%), Muscat (1.56%), Bahrain (0.74%) and Abu Dhabi (0.42%).

Micro, large and mid cap equities bore the maximum brunt at the QE in the week that saw Al Meera Holding, a subsidiary of Al Meera Consumer Goods Company, enter into a strategic partnership with Business Trading Company to strengthen its brand positioning in its overseas markets.

Doha’s bourse gas lost YTD 3.69% vis-à-vis Saudi Arabia’s 10.63% gain, followed by Dubai (9.03%), Abu Dhabi (2.73%) and Bahrain (0.68%); while Muscat fell 0.67%.

Major shakers at the QE were Commercialbank, Qatar Islamic Bank, International Islamic, Masraf Al Rayan, Industries Qatar, Dlala, Mawashi, Aamal Company, Gulf International Services, United Development Company, Qatar Telecom, Nakilat and Milaha in the week that saw Mannai Corporation back out from acquiring Black Cat Engineering and Construction.

However, al khaliji, Salam International Investment, Qatari Investors Group, Mazaya Qatar, Barwa and Vodafone Qatar bucked the trend in the review week that saw the Qatar Statistics Authority reveal that the country’s cost of living, based on consumer price index, rose 1.10% year-on-year last month mainly due to costlier food, garments and entertainment.

The QE All Share Index (comprising wider constituents) shrank 1.07% with telecom index losing the maximum of 3.77%, followed by consumer goods (2.24%), industrials (1.79%), insurance (1.69%), transport (1.37%), banks and financial services (0.30%) and realty (0.04%) in the week that saw an analysis that said the listed companies have so far raised more than QR9bn this year through rights issue.

The indices of transport and real estate have lost YTD 5.50% and 4.92%; while those of consumer goods, telecom, insurance, industrials and banks and financial services gained 26.15%, 24.39%, 14.18%, 10.17% and 2.21% respectively.

Of the 42 stocks, only 13 advanced, while 28 declined and one was unchanged that featured a Commercialbank Capital study that said massive investment in Qatar’s construction sector on the back of “strong economic fundamentals” would trigger demand for cement.

Eight of the 12 banks and financial services, five each of the eight consumer goods and the seven industrials, four of the five insurers, two of the four real estate, all the three transport and one of two telecom equities closed lower in the week that saw a Samba Financial Group study that said domestic credit growth in Qatar was likely to remain robust through 2012 on rising public and private investment activities.

Market capitalisation eroded 1.41% to QR452.37bn with micro, large and mid cap equities melting 2.79%, 1.39% and 0.71% respectively; whereas small caps gained 1.04% in the week.

Mid and large cap stocks have fallen YTD 4.36% and 3.63%; while micro and small caps rose 13.91% and 7.58% respectively.

Foreign institutions continued to be profit-takers but with lesser intensity amid their higher exposure as their net selling fell to 11.37% from 11.58% the previous week.

A marginally higher 7.99% of them bought equities compared to 6.29% in the week ended May 13 and a higher 19.36% of them offloaded against 17.87%.
Domestic institutions continued to be bullish, but with lesser intensity, as their net buying sunk to 8.94% from 15.94% the previous week.

A lower 25.75% of them were into buying compared to 31.22% in the week ended May 13, while a marginally higher 16.81% into selling against 15.28%.
However, Qatari individual investors turned bullish as they were net buyers to the tune of 1.83% compared with net sellers of 0.79% the previous week.
A higher 49.36% of them were into buying compared to 47.25% in the week ended May 13, whereas a marginally lower 47.53% of them were into selling against 48.04%.

Non-Qatari retail investors were also increasingly bullish as they were net buyers to the extent of 0.59% compared with net sellers of 3.57% the previous week.

A marginally higher 16.90% of them purchased stocks compared to 15.24% in the week ended May 13, while a lower 16.81% of them sold against 18.81%.
The bourse’s price-earning ratio, a measure of expensiveness, was 11.90 times in the third week of May against 14.94 times in the comparable period of 2011. The price-to-book value was more than 1.69 times at the end of May 17 against 1.97 times in the year-ago period.

Total trading volume rose 13% to 69.01mn shares, while value fell 6% to QR1.73bn and transactions by 8% to 25,174 in the week that saw the industrials sector dominate the trading ring in terms of volume, value and deals.
In terms of volume, industrials sector accounted for 30.31% of the total (against 21.63% in the previous week), followed by banks and financial services 23.42% (30.10%), realty 18.58% (24.59%), telecom 14.06% (7.24%), consumer goods and services 9.16% (10.29%), transport 4.29% (5.66%) and insurance 0.19% (0.51%).

The telecom sector’s trading volume more than doubled to 9.70mn shares, industrials surged 59% to 20.92mn and consumer goods by 1% to 6.32mn; while that of insurance plummeted 58% to 0.13mn, real estate by 14% to 12.82mn, transport by 14% to 2.96mn and banks and financial services by 12% to 16.16mn.

In terms of value, the industrial sector cornered 36.45% of the total (compared to 23.51% a week ago), followed by banking and financial services 32.25% (37.66%), realty 10.30% (11.69%), consumer goods 9.32% (12.65%), telecom 7.82% (10.25%), transport 3.47% (3.58%) and insurance 0.40% (0.67%).

The insurance sector’s trading value plunged 44% to QR6.89mn, consumer goods by 31% to QR161.10mn, telecom by 28% to QR135.16mn, banks and financial services by 19% to QR557.59mn, real estate by 17% to QR178.17mn and transport by 9% to QR59.99mn, while industrials soared 46% to QR630.28mn.

Qatari Investors Group equities accounted for 25.92% of total trading value, followed by Masraf Al Rayan (10.90%) and Industries Qatar (7.52%).

In terms of deals, industrials sector’s share was 30.09% (against 23.22% in the previous week), banks and financial services 25.54% (28.60%), realty 13.83% (16.87%), consumer goods 11.85% (13.77%), telecom 11.19% (9.82%), transport 6.95% (6.77%) and insurance 0.55% (0.94%).

The insurance stocks transactions declined 46% to 138; real estate by 24% to 3,482; consumer goods by 20% to 2,983; banks and financial services by 17% to 6,429 and transport by 5% to 1,750; whereas that of industrials rose 20% to 7,575 and telecom by 5% to 2,817.

In the debt market, there were no trades during the week.