The Qatar Exchange mostly treaded a flat course despite selling pressure from foreign institutions in the week.
Buying interest in micro and large cap equities was largely contained by selling in small and mid as the QE Index (based on price data) and Total Return Index (which factors in dividend income as well) fell 0.05% each in the week that saw Saudi Arabian and Kuwait bourses shed 0.47% and 0.08%, while Dubai and Bahrain gained 2.99% and 0.10% respectively. Muscat was unchanged.
Doha’s bourse shrank year-to-date (ytd) 5.67% vis-à-vis Muscat’s fall of 4.39% and Bahrain (2.51%); while Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait gained 13.47%, 2.28% and 0.80% respectively.
Transport and realty stocks specifically came under selling pressure in the week that saw a Business Optimism Index say that weak oil prices as well as persistent Eurozone crisis have made Qatar Inc less optimistic in the third quarter.
Major losers included Barwa, Mazaya Qatar, Vodafone Qatar, Nakilat and Gulf Warehousing; even as Dlala, Commercialbank (Cb), Doha Bank, Mawashi, Qatari investors Group and United Development Company bucked the trend in the week that featured a Business Monitor International report that said Qatar is set to generate a current account surplus of 31.8% of GDP this year,
The QE All Share Index (comprising wider constituents) was down 0.05% with the transport index losing 1.14%, real estate (0.74%), insurance (0.23%), telecom (0.17%) and industrials (0.08%); while the indices of consumer goods and banks and financial services gained 1.5% and 0.21% respectively in the week that saw Cb report a 6% growth in its first half net profit.
The indices of transport and real estate have lost ytd 10.59% and 1.81%; whereas those of consumer goods, telecom, insurance, industrials and banks and financial services gained 27.71%, 13.87%, 9.14%, 7.17% and 1.36%, respectively.
Of the 42 stocks; 22 advanced, while only 14 declined, five were unchanged and one was not traded. Seven each of the 12 banks and financial services and the eight consumer goods, four of the eight industrials, two each of the five insurance and the four real estate closed higher in the week that witnessed Doha Bank report 5% rise in net profit in the first six months of this year.
Market capitalisation was up 0.34% or more than QR1bn to QR455.17bn with micro and large cap equities gaining 1.78% and 0.17%; while small and mid caps lost 0.31% and 0.29% respectively in the week.
Micro and small cap equities have gained ytd 16.89% and 5.08%; while mid and large caps fell 6.52% and 5.52% respectively.
Foreign institutions turned profit takers that they were net sellers to the tune of 4.26% against net buyers of 40.26% the previous week. Their net selling amounted to QR33.08mn.
A much lower 19.25% of them bought equities compared to 54.87% the week ended July 12 whereas a higher 23.51% of them offloaded against 14.61%.
However, domestic institutions turned bullish that they were net buyers to the extent of 4.39% compared with net sellers of 43.89% the previous week. Their net buying was QR34.09mn.
A higher 16.03% of them were into buying against 8.25% the week ended July 12 while a much lower 11.64% into selling compared to 52.14%.
Qatari individual investors’ bullish grip slacked amidst their higher exposure as net buying sunk to 0.13% from 3.25% the previous week. Their net buying amounted to QR1.01mn.
A much higher 48.04% of them were into buying compared to 26.12% the week ended July 12 and a much higher 47.91% of them were into selling against 22.87%.
Non-Qatari retail investors were bearish amidst their higher exposure as they were net sellers to the tune of 0.27% compared with net buyers of 0.38% the previous week. Their net selling was QR2.1mn.
A higher 16.67% of them purchased stocks against 10.76% the week ended July 12 and a higher 16.94% of them sold compared to 10.38%.
The bourse’s price-earning ratio, a measure of expensiveness, was 11.86 times in the third week of July against 14.20 times in the comparable period of 2011.
The price-to-book value was 1.68 times at the end of July 19 against 1.80 times in the year-ago period.
Total trading volume rose 9% to 24.32mn shares, value by 35% to QR776.55mn and transactions by 10% to 13,441 in the week.
In terms of volume, the banks and financial sector accounted for 34.21% of the total (against 22.53% in the previous week), realty 30.84% (31.91%), consumer goods 11.35% (5.18%), industrials 9.87% (6.51%), transport 7.36% (16.06%), telecom 5.63% (16.42%) and insurance 0.74% (1.38%).
The consumer goods and services sector’s trading volume more than doubled to 2.76mn shares, banks and financial services’ surged 65% to 8.32mn, industrials by 64% to 2.40mn and realty by 5% to 7.50mn; while that of telecom plummeted 63% to 1.37mn, transport by 50% to 1.79mn and insurance by 42% to 0.18mn.
In terms of value, banks and financial services sector cornered 41.07% of the total (compared to 31.43% a week ago), industrials 17.39% (12.71%), consumer goods 16.28% (7.30%), realty 15.53% (26.67%), transport 5.42% (11.22%), telecom 2.88% (7.19%) and insurance 1.43% (3.48%).
The consumer goods stocks trading value more than tripled to QR126.39mn, that of industrials soared 84% to QR135.05mn and banks and financial services by 76% to QR318.93mn; whereas that of telecom plunged 46% to QR22.38mn, insurance by 45% to QR11.09mn, transport by 35% to QR42.11mn and real estate by 22% to QR120.59mn.
Mawashi equities accounted for 12.45% of the total trading value, followed by Industries Qatar (10.62%) and Mazaya Qatar (7.88%).
In terms of deals, the banks and financial services sector’s share in the total was 35.53% (against 27.90% the previous week), consumer goods `6.93% (8.42%), realty 16.61% (24.91%), industrials 14.31% (12.73%), transport 9.88% (16.36%), telecom 5.11% (8.1%) and insurance 1.64% (1.58%).
The consumer goods stocks transactions more than doubled to 2,275; those of banks and financial services gained 40% to 4,775; industrials by 23% to 1,924 and insurance by 13% to 220; whereas those of transport declined 34% to 1,328; telecom by 31% to 687 and real estate by 27% to 2,232.
There was no trading in the debt market during the week.