By: Eman Ghaly
Mubasher: The Qatar stock Exchange (QSE) on Monday closed in the red zone, as market capitalisation declined by QAR 7.2 billion.
The general index decreased by 1.38% or 112.18 points to reach 8,014.71, its lowest level since March 2011.
Walid Al Adly, Arqaam Capital’s CEO, told Mubasher that this drop was due to several factors such as the geopolitical tensions in the Gulf especially after Saudi Arabia launched its anti-corruption probe late Saturday.
Foreign funds and retail investors exiting the market, in general, and the QSE’s leading stocks, in particular, have pressured the index, while shrugging off the surge in oil prices, the CEO added.
In the coming sessions, the QSE benchmark index will target 8,000 points if it continues its declines and may target 7,800 points, which represents a strong support to the index, Al Adly stated.
The QSE market capitalisation dropped 1.6% to reach QAR 434.6 billion, versus QAR 441.8 billion on Sunday.
Meanwhile, traded value rose to QAR 999.9 million compared to QAR 228.13 million on the Sunday, while traded volume increased to 9.35 million versus 4.70 million in the previous session.
Arqaam Capital’s CEO noted that the real value of the QSE’s trading reached QAR 207 million, while bonds and sukuk acquired QAR 792 million of Monday’s total trades.
The return of liquidity to the QSE depends on calming the ongoing political tensions that have cast a shadow on foreign funds’ performance, Al Adly added.
The QSE witnessed a drop in all sectors, topped by the industrial sector, which slid 1.88% after its stock Aamal retreated 4.76%.
The banking sector also decreased 0.82% as a result of a drop in 11 stocks, topped by the Islamic Holding Group (IHGS), and the drop of the main stock Qatar National Bank (QNB) by 0.83%.
Vodafone Qatar, down 1.7%, was the most actively traded stock in terms of volume with 1.7 million shares traded, while Qatar International Islamic Bank (QIIB), down 3.40%, topped the list in terms of liquidity with QAR 39.4 million.
Translated by: Kholoud Mohamed
