DOHA: Qatar Exchange (QE) index lost 22.36 points or 0.26 percent during this week to close at 8,506.22 points.
Trading value during the week decreased by 25.11 percent to reach QR1.03bn compared to QR1.38bn. Trading volume decreased by 34.88 percent to reach 20.06m shares as against 30.82m shares, while the number of transactions fell by 32.08 percent to reach 11,889 transactions against previous week’s 17,504.
Market capitalisation rose by 0.05 percent to reach QR466.37bn as compared to QR466.13bn at the end of previous week.
The Banks and Financial Services sector led trading value during the week accounting for 38.25 percent of the total trading value followed by Industrials sector which accounted for 24.03 percent. The Consumer Goods and Services sector ranked third with 9.58 percent.
The trading volume was also led by the Banks and Financial Services with 38.79 percent of the total traded volume, followed by Real Estate sector which accounted for 21.46 percent. The Industrials sector ranked third, accounting for 20.88 percent. The transaction numbers were also led by the Banks and Financial Services sector.
A total of 20 companies of the 42 listed companies ended this week higher, while 20 fell and two companies remain unchanged. QNB led trading value during the week accounting for 16.56 percent of the total trading value, followed by Industries Qatar with 11.41 percent.
The yesterday bourse added 10.97 points or 0.13 percent to advance to 8,506.22 points from 8,495.25 on Wednesday.
The volume of the shares traded increased to 5,367,123 from 4,846,226 on Wednesday and the value of shares decreased to QR234m from QR336m.
Among the top gainers were Qatar National Bank (QNB), Qatar Insurance, Doha Insurance and Qatar Navigation. QNB was up 0.83 percent to QR133.20, Qatar Insurance rose 1.33 percent to QR53.40, Doha Insurance gained 2.76 percent to QR29.80 and Qatar Navigation up by 1.25 percent to QR64.60.
The Banking and Financial sector index up 0.41 points while Consumer Goods and Services sector index added 0.22 points. The industrial sector gained 0.38 points while insurance sector rose 0.64 points.
Meanwhile, Egypt’s Orascom Telecom rebounded yesterday after a newspaper report said Algeria was near to resolving a long-running dispute with the Cairo-listed firm’s Algerian unit Djezzy. Shares in Orascom Telecom jumped 7.6 percent to a three-week high. They had slumped to seven-week low on Wednesday after the company announced a widening fourth-quarter net loss.
Algeria will sign an agreement next week with Orascom’s parent company Vimpelcom regarding Djezzy, an Algerian newspaper reported. Traders in Cairo said the agreement could pave the way for Algeria to buy a stake in Djezzy. Cairo’s index rose 2 percent, climbing for a second day since Tuesday’s 2013 low as bargain hunters returned.
A possible delay in upcoming parliamentary elections also boosted market sentiment.
Egyptian court ordered the cancellation of President Mohammed Mursi’s decree calling parliamentary elections, forcing a likely delay to polls due to start in April.
In Dubai, renewed buying of property-related stocks helped the emirate’s index climb 0.4 percent, rebounding from Wednesday’s four-week low.
Investors have booked gains since Dubai hit a 29-month high in late February. Shares in Dubai’s bellwether Emaar Properties gained 1.1 percent. Builder Arabtec snapped a five-session losing streak, closing 3.9 percent higher.
Banks weighed on the neighbouring Abu Dhabi index, which fell 1 percent. The market declined 2.4 percent this week, down from Feb. 27’s 40-month peak. First Gulf Bank dropped 4.9 percent after reaching its ex-dividend date. Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank fell 1.7 percent.
In Kuwait, the index gained 0.3 percent, rising to a near 25-month high.
The Peninsula/Reuters
