By: Eman Ghali
Mubasher: The Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) on Tuesday hit its highest level since January 2016 after the Qatar National Day holiday.
The QSE announced the suspension of trading on Sunday, 17 December and Monday, 18 December on the occasion of the Qatar National Day.
The general index increased 3.79%, or 311.22 points, to 8,522.83 points.
The general index targets to break a resistance at 8,600 points on the short term to touch 8,800 points, Arqaam Capital CEO Walid Al Adly said.
With the ongoing upward trajectory of the QSE’s general index, the level of 8,400 points is a robust support in the current time, El Adli noted.
The rise of spending in Qatar’s 2018 budget to QAR 203.2 billion has boosted the QSE, Arqaam Capital CEO said.
El Adli highlighted that Qatar’s low stock prices have attracted various segments of investors, adding that local and foreign portfolios would create new purchasing powers ahead of 2017-end.
In the fourth quarter of the year, the QSE-listed companies have sought to close at high levels in a bid to improve the annual growth, the CEO said, projecting that the blue-chip stocks will top the trades over the coming period.
El Adli added that sukuk and bonds did not see any transactions in Tuesday’s session.
The QSE’s liquidity shrank to QAR 390.18 million on Tuesday from QAR 404.99 million on Thursday, while the trading volume hiked to 20.01 million shares from 15.33 million shares in the previous session ended 14 December.
Market capitalisation went up 4.2% to QAR 472.8 billion versus QAR 453.4 billion.
The QSE saw the hike of all sectors, topped by the banking sector which added 3.51% after Islamic Holding Group surged 7.68%.
Similarly, the industrial sector grew 3.23% on the back of Qatar Industrial Manufacturing Company’s 7.38% rise.
On Tuesday, Qatar Insurance Company spearheaded 44 gainers after advancing 9.98%.
Vodafone Qatar, 3.47% up, was the most actively-traded stock on the QSE in terms of volume with 4.3 million shares, while Qatar National Bank (QNB), which soared 4.97%, led the bourse in terms of liquidity with QAR 72.7 million.
Translated by: Kholoud Mohamed Hussein
