DOHA: Qatari stocks fell marginally yesterday showing no impact of Wednesday’s news reports hinting that plans were under way to encourage companies to up their foreign ownership limits by changing the caps to 25 percent of their full capital instead of a quarter of their free float shares.
There was hardly any buying support from foreign institutional investors (FIIs) who are being wooed with the above planned changes in company ownership caps on foreign ownership.
Curiously, buy volumes of small Qatari investors were much more than those of any other categories, including local institutions and retail foreign investors, yesterday.
Qatar Exchange’s main benchmark index slid 15.48 points to 9,290.33 points at the close of trading as a result, but over the five-day trading in the week that ended yesterday the index gained some 52 points, or 0.57 percent.
Trading value rose 10.06 percent in the week to QR2.08bn in comparison to QR1.9bn the previous week. Trading volume increased 15.28 percent to of 64.66 million shares as against 56.09 million in the preceding week.
As for the number of transactions concluded on the bourse in the week, they rose almost 10 percent to 27,203 compared with 24,743 the previous week.
Market capitalisation rose by a marginal 0.21 percent to slightly over QR511bn, from QR509.99bn in the week before.
The banking and financial services sector led the trading value with a 27.03 share in the total.
The industrial counters accounted for 20.96 percent share in the total, while real estate stocks contributed 20.25 percent.
The consumer goods and services shares accounted for a 13.35 percent share in the total.
Real estate stocks, on the other hand, led the trading volumes this past week with 31.57 percent contribution to the total. The banking and financial services counters accounted for a 20.97 percent share, while industrial stocks had a share of 12.43 percent.
Telecom stocks accounted for 11.85 percent, whereas the banking and financial services sector led in terms of the number of transactions with a 25.45 percent share in the total.
Industrial shares accounted for 19.56 percent while the real estate counters contributed 18.60 percent to the total, and consumer goods and services, 13.45%.
Some 27 of the 42 listed entities ended higher in the week, while 11 fell and four remained unchanged.
United Development Company led the trading value with an 11.06 percent share in the total.
Industries Qatar accounted for 10.72 percent and National Leasing (Alijarah), 8.97 percent.
The Peninsula
