DOHA: Qatar stocks drifted higher as traders looked toward solid company results yesterday, a day after the official confirmation that FIFA World Cup will come to Qatar in November 2022. Extending the rally, the QSE benchmark index rose 1.06 percent to reach 9,439.97.
The bellwether Industries Qatar (IQ) surged 4.74 percent to lift the industrials sector by 2.46 percent. IQ’s bottom line is forecasted at QR1.2bn vs. QR513m YoY, up 73 percent, led by higher petrochemical product prices.
QNB which recorded 7 percent growth for the first half rose by 1.24 percent, as QIB edged up 0.54 percent.
Among the industrials sector, QEWC advanced 1.34 percent. The utility major’s Q2 revenue is expected to grow 13 percent aided by increased availability requirements during the summer months. In its Q2 earnings preview of QSE, QNBFS analysts estimated banks under its coverage, excluding QNB, is expected to experience a YoY increase of 18.4 percent largely due to a base effect stemming from Commercial Bank.
Commercial Bank is expected to contribute positively to the YoY/QoQ profitability performance. QNBFS expects Commercial Bank to report strong earnings in 2Q2018 after five weak quarters. The banking sector index gained 0.61 percent yesterday, while Commercial Bank inched lower by 0.5 percent yesterday.
Ezdan Real Estate increased 1.49 percent, lifting the sector index by 0.79 percent.
Vodafone Qatar was the top traded stock with 3.4m shares traded. The telecom stock jumped 3.08 percent. Market believes Vaodafone should continue its trend of positive earnings in Q2, 2018.
“Top-line should be flattish YoY and down moderately sequentially given Ramadan and summer vacation-related seasonality. Earnings benefit from significant amortization decrease YoY; quarterly decline is mostly attributed to the modest revenue fall”, QNBFS analysts said.
Foreign institutional investors were the net buyers yesterday. QSE’s recent data showed the first half of 2018 witnessed an upsurge in activity by foreign investors, with buying transactions increasing by 41 percent compared to the same period in 2017, reaching QR21.8bn.
Sell transactions increased by 21 percent to a QR17.6bn. Increases were largely attributed to the results of the periodic reviews by FTSE Russell and MSCI at the end of the first half of 2018. The market is 10.75 percent up year-to-date.
