Local retail investors’ profit booking yesterday extended the bearish spell in the Qatar Exchange for the seventh consecutive day.

Large and mid cap equities largely came under selling pressure as the QE Index (based on price data) lost 0.54% to 8,123.02 points. The market is down 7.47% year-to-date.
All Share Index (comprising wider constituents) and Total Return Index also shrank 0.41% and 0.54% to 1,963.24 and 10,993.38 points respectively. Both the indices factored in dividend income as well.

Major losers included Qatar Telecom, Commercialbank, Industries Qatar, Qatari Investors Group and Milaha; even as Dlala, Mazaya Qatar and Nakilat bucked the trend.
Under the All Share Index category, the telecom index plunged 2.64%, industrials (0.64%), transport (0.30%), banks and financial services (0.12%), realty (0.03%) and consumer goods (0.01%); while the insurance index rose 0.17%.

Market capitalisation eroded 0.44% or about QR2bn to QR446.10bn with large and mid cap equities notably melting 0.62% and 0.17% respectively; even as micro caps gained 0.32%.

Of the 42 stocks, 14 gained, while 17 declined, six were unchanged and five were not traded.

Qatari individual investors turned profit takers that they were net sellers to the tune of 1.36% against net buyers of 6.59% the previous day. Their net selling amounted to QR2.26mn.

A lower 47.06% of them purchased equities compared to 48.92% on Wednesday whereas a higher 48.42% sold against 42.33%.

However, non-Qatari retail investors turned bullish that they were net buyers to the extent of 1.13% compared with net sellers of 1.55% the previous day. Their net buying was QR1.88mn.

A higher 17.18% of them were into buying against 14.79% on Wednesday while a marginally lower 16.05% were into offloading against 16.34%.

Foreign institutions continued to be profit takers but with lesser intensity as their net selling fell to 11.80% from 15.62% the previous day. Their net selling amounted to QR19.63mn.

A marginally higher 17.94% of them were into buying against 17.34% on Wednesday whereas a lower 29.74% of them into selling compared to 32.96%.

Domestic institutions’ bullish grip strengthened as their net buying surged to 12.04% from 10.59% the previous day. Their net buying was QR20.03mn.

A marginally lower 17.82% of them bought equities compared to 18.95% on Wednesday and a lower 5.78% offloaded against 8.36%.

Total trading volume was down 9% to 5.94mn equities, value by 6% to QR166.37mn and deals by 1% to 2,967.

The transport sector’s trading volume plummeted 47% to 0.28mn shares, value by 51% to QR6.90mn and transactions by 38% to 210.

The banks and financial services sector’s trading volume plunged 31% to 2.79mn shares, value by 38% to QR62.89mn and deals by 27% to 971.

The consumer goods and services sector’s trading volume tanked 10% to 0.28mn shares and value by 16% to QR8.20mn but transactions rose 11% to 249.

However, the telecom sector’s trading volume more than doubled to 0.58mn shares and value jumped more than five-fold to QR20.70mn on more than doubled deals to 417.

The industrials sector’s trading volume surged 85% to 0.89mn shares, value by 40% to QR47.25mn and transactions by 12% to 646.

The insurance sector’s trading volume shot up 80% to 0.09mn shares, value by 46% to QR4.45mn and deals by 2% to 45.

The real estate sector’s trading volume gained 21% to 1.02mn shares, value by 38% to QR15.96mn and transactions by 25% to 429.

Actively traded stocks (in terms of volume) were Qatar Oman Investment (2.16mn shares); Mazaya Qatar (766,565); Qatari Investors Group (588,200); Vodafone Qatar (419,548) and Masraf Al Rayan (252,839).

Reuters adds: Egypt’s bourse rallied for a fourth day yesterday since Mohamed Mursi’s presidential election victory, while most Gulf markets fell with investors cutting risk ahead of an EU meeting.

Egypt’s main index rose 1.7% to 4,709 points, staging its fourth-biggest one-day gain of its 14 year history.

In the Gulf markets, most bourses tracked losses on European shares as divisions
among EU leaders dashed hopes of concrete measures to tackle the region’s debt crisis.

Abu Dhabi’s index dropped 0.9% to 2,448 points, a two-week closing low. Telecoms operator Etisalat was the main drag, falling 3.3%. Dubai’s index eased 0.02% to 1,452 points, its sixth straight decline. Emaar Properties shed 1.1%.

In Kuwait, the index ended 0.6% lower at 5,789 points, its lowest close since January 23 amid a slow-burn political crisis.

Oman’s index gained 0.7% to 5,690 points and Bahrain’sclimbed 0.2% to 1,127 points.