DOHA: Qatari equities rose marginally last month. The main index of the Qatari bourse added 36.28 points, or 0.43 percent, during October over the previous month to reach 8,546.49 points.
However, the trading value during October declined 49.63 percent to reach QR3.71bn as compared with QR7.37bn in September. Trading volume decreased by 63 percent to reach over 98.32 million shares as against 265.72 million in September, while the number of transactions fell 16.73 percent to reach 59,081 as compared to 70,952 during the previous month.
The banking and financial services sector led the trading value during the month, accounting for 34.32 percent of the total, followed by the industrial sector, which accounted for 24.34 percent. The consumer goods and services sector accounted for 21.83 percent.
The trading value of the transportation and the real estate sectors, on the other hand, stood at 6.54 percent and 6.5 percent, respectively. The telecom sector accounted for 5.46 percent.
In terms of trading volume, the banking and financial services sector was the best performer, accounting for 36.82 percent of the month’s total followed by the consumer goods and services sector (20.44 percent). The industrial sector accounted for 15.17 percent. The trading value of the banking and financial services sector rose 34.32 percent. The industrial sector’s trading value was up 24.4 percent on month-on-month basis.
Market capitalisation fell by a marginal 0.15 percent at the end of October to reach QR467.4bn as against QR468.2bn at the end of September. Of the 42 listed companies, 14 advanced in October, while 28 fell.
The index of the Qatar Exchange, meanwhile, lost 19.82 points, or 0.23 percent last week to close at 8516.31 points. Market capitalisation fell by 0.52 percent to reach QR466bn compared to QR468bn at the end of previous week.
The industrial sector led the trading value last week. In terms of trading volume, the banking and financial services sector was the key driver. Some 16 companies ended last week higher, while 24 fell and two remained unchanged.
As for yesterday, Qatar Exchange continued its rally, adding 57.13 points, or 0.67 percent, to advance to 8,603.62 points from 8,546.49 on Wednesday.
The trading volume reached more than 3.74 million shares from a little over 3.1 million on Wednesday and the trading value similarly increased to QR202.79bn from QR175bn on Wednesday.
Among the top gainers were Industries Qatar (IQ) which was up 1.71 percent to QR154.60, Qatar Electricity and Water rose 0.9 percent to QR134.40, Qatar Telecom (Qtel) gained 0.85 percent to QR106.50 and Masraf Al Rayan was up by 0.76 percent to QR26.60.
Reuters reported IQ rallied to a four-year high as foreign investors continued buying in the bluechip, helping lift the main benchmark to a six-week high .Shares in IQ rose 1.7 percent to their highest close since September 2008. “The petrochemicals and metals company posted a 23.7 percent jump in third-quarter net profit last month, beating average analysts’ forecasts”, the report said.
The Peninsula
