Foreign funds drag QSE 63 points; M-cap erodes QR3bn

Foreign funds drag QSE 63 points; M-cap erodes QR3bn

The Qatar Stock Exchange on Sunday opened the week weak with its key index losing about 63 points, mainly dragged by the transport, telecom and industrials sectors.

The foreign funds were seen net profit takers as the 20-stock Qatar Index shrank 0.5% to 12,594.14 points, although it touched an intraday high of 12,730 points.

The Gulf institutions continued to be net sellers but with lesser vigour in the market, whose year-to-date gains were at 8.33%.

The domestic funds were seen bullish in the main bourse, whose capitalisation however saw QR3.16bn or 0.45% decrease to QR700.39bn, mainly on the back of small and microcap segments.

The Islamic index declined slower than the other indices in the market, which saw a total of 0.57mn exchange traded funds (sponsored by Masraf Al Rayan and Doha Bank) valued at QR2.07mn changed hands across 53 deals.

Trade turnover and volumes were on the decline in the main market, while the venture market saw increased turnover and volumes.

The foreign individuals were increasingly net buyers in the bourse, which saw no trading of sovereign bonds.

The Arab retail investors were also increasingly bullish in the main market, which saw no trading of treasury bills.

The Total Return Index shrank 0.5% to 25,796.89 points, Al