The Group Securities: Weekly Report on QSE Performance, 7-11 Jan 2018

General Index Still on the Rise, Edges Up 9136 Points

 

Qatar Stock Exchange continued its strong recovery initiated a few weeks ago, clearly evidenced by the rise of the average daily trading volume to about QR305.3 million, as well as the key and sectoral indices. The general index increased by 5.85%, surpassing the level of 9000 points to end up the week at 9136 points. Total capitalization increased and exceeded QR502 million. Overall, this leap of the market was shored up by a combination of positive factors; namely  the rising oil prices amounting to more than $67 per barrel, and  the upcoming financial disclosures and dividends dates.

In depth, General Index increased 505 points or 5.85%, to the level of 9136 points, similar to All Shares index; while Al Rayan Islamic Index increased by 5.29%. All sectors indices ended on the positive, topped by Insurance, followed by Real Estate, and Banks. The share price of Qatar Insurance hit the highest level, scoring a 14.13% increase, followed by UDC by 11.54%, Qatari Investors by 10.93%, Al Rayan by 9.14%, and Medicare by 8.96%. In contrast, the share price of Ahli Bank was the biggest loser with a decline of 21.2%, followed by Doha Insurance by 6.33%, Qatar Cinema by 4.60%, Zad by 3.70%, and Al Meera by 3.27%.

Total trading volume rose by 76.2% to QR1526.3 million, and average daily trading increased to QR305.3 million. Al Rayan shares led the trading with a volume of QR154.0 million, followed by QNB with QR143.4 million, and UDC with QR88.3 million. It was noticed that only non-Qatari portfolios made net purchase worth QR144.2 million, against net sales of QR59 million made by Qatari portfolios. Qatari individuals made net sales of QR76.2 million, and non-Qatari individual investors made net sales worth QR9 million. Consequently, QSE’s total capitalization rose by QR24.5 billion to reach QR502.3 billion. P/E ratio rose to a multiple of 13.86 compared to 13.18 last week.

Corporate News:

1.      QIC Group announced that its Bermuda based reinsurance subsidiary, Qatar Reinsurance Company Limited (“Qatar Re”) – has been authorized by Qatar Central Bank and the, UK regulator, Prudential Regulation Authority to carry out certain regulated activities in the UK from its branch office in London.

 

2.      Aamal Company announced plans to further diversify its activities through the establishment of three major new industrial projects, which will be implemented by Senyar Industries Qatar Holding, one of the country’s leading industrial conglomerates in which Aamal owns a 50% non-controlling stake.

 

3.      Vodafone Qatar announced that the date of its Board of Directors meeting will be brought forward from Thursday, January 18, 2018 to Tuesday, January 16, 2018. The agenda of the meeting includes a number of items relating to the Company's business and activities, and is expected to yield an update on the Company's position for the previous nine months ended on 31 December 2017.

Economic Development:

1.    Banks' consolidated balance sheet figures for December have not been released yet. November’s data, however, showed that banks' assets increased by QR14 billion to QR1332.7 billion. Government and public sector deposits increased by QR9.6 billion to QR308 billion. On the other hand, the total loans of the government and public sector increased to reach QR491.2 billion, while the total private sector deposits increased to QR348.3 billion, and its loans surged to reach QR461 billion.

 

2.      Qatar Petroleum said Qatar onshore crude oil price increased by 2.14% in December to reach $64.35 a barrel, compared to $63   last month. OPEC oil prices estimated to have increased by $2.12 to the level of $67.24 a barrel until Wednesday, compared to $65.12  per barrel in the previous week.

 

3.      Dow Jones index gained 500 points to hit the level of 25575 points until Thursday. U.S. dollar rose to $1.20 per euro, while it settled against the yen at ¥113.31 per dollar. Gold rose by $8 to the level of $1329 per ounce.