By Satish Kanady
DOHA: Over QR17bn has been wiped out in market capitalisation, as Qatari bourse turned bearish during the entire sessions of this month except one.
Market cap shrunk by 2.63 percent to QR628bn within four days, as the market extended its losing streak yesterday.
The benchmark index was down 149 points or 1.25 percent at 11,787, as global sentiments rattled investors who dumped blue chips and real estate stocks.
Banking major QNB, which announced 10.2 percent surge in its first half net profit yesterday, shed 1.01 percent.
Industries Qatar dropped 2.15 percent as Ooredoo went down 2.33 percent. Barwa which announced a QR15bn capex programme on Tuesday closed lower by 1.55 percent. QIB, Commercial Bank and Ezdan were among other top losers of the day.
Brokers attributed rout in global markets and local retail investors’ habitual pre-Eid sell-off trend to the extended bear market.
Qatar Exchange’s (QE) total traded value fell 12 percent to QR197m within four sessions. Volume traded decreased by 13 percent to 3.9m shares.
Strong selling pressure from GCC institutions and substantially lower buying interest from domestic institutions weighed on Qatari index. Moreover, a statement from the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics that stocks listed on QE are expensive compared with other regional bourses dragged the index lower, analysts at Global Investment House noted yesterday.
Increased buying interest in consumer goods, real estate, industrial, and insurance stocks halted QE’s bearish run. However, reduction in growth estimates for 2015 by the ministry stopped the index’s short rally.
After mid-June, QE recorded strong gains, primarily driven by real estate stocks and bullish position of foreign institutions, they noted.
Most Gulf markets fell in modest turnover because of weak oil prices and global market instability due to the Greek crisis and China’s equities crash.
Meanwhile, NBK’s 2Q, 2015 report on GCC equity markets released yesterday noted regional markets rallied in the second quarter, led by a strong performance by UAE markets.
Following a strong market correction triggered by the drop in oil prices late last year and extended well into 1Q15, most regional markets saw a notable rebound in 2Q15.
“Markets seem to have gained from stabilising oil prices and a relatively calmer geopolitical climate. The MSCI GCC total return index was up 4.6 percent. GCC markets’ capitalisation stood at $1.1 trillion, having added $88bn in 2Q15.
“Market liquidity dropped 22 percent with the daily traded value averaging $2.2bn.
“Typically, activity weakens in the summer and more so notably during Ramadan.
“Internationally, the Greek debt issue took a toll on equity markets with main market indices ending the quarter in the red.”
Saudi stock index slipped 0.3 percent as Saudi Basic Industries, a petrochemical blue chip which is sensitive to oil prices, lost 0.8 percent.
The Dubai stock index slid 1.4 percent. Construction firm Arabtec dropped 2.8 percent after saying its group chief financial officer, human resources officer and general counsel had resigned, the latest in a series of management upheavals at the company since June last year.
Abu Dhabi’s index edged down 0.7 percent as Aldar Properties dropped 3.7 percent.
Qatar’s market fell 1.3 percent as Industries Qatar, another big petrochemical producer, lost 2.2 percent.The Peninsula
