By: Eman Ghaly

Mubasher: The Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) closed the week ended 11 January up with capital gains of QAR 24.4 billion.

The main index increased 5.88%, or 505.91 points, to finish the week at 9,135.86 points.

Market capitalisation went up 5.12% to QAR 502.2 billion over the week, from QAR 477.8 billion in the prior week.

The QSE’s liquidity surged 76.2% to QAR 1.5 billion from QAR 886.1 million during the previous week, while the market’s trading volume hiked 65.6% to 62.6 million shares this week versus 37.8 million last week.

The stock market's transactions grew 64.6% to 25,700 in the second week of 2018 from 15,600 a week earlier.

On the back of the bourse's successive rises, the general index targets to reach resistance at 9400 and 9600 points, financial analyst at Namaa Economic Consultancy Ahmed Maher told Mubasher.

He added that if the QSE sees profit-taking wave after the consecutive hikes, its benchmark is forecast to reach support at 8600 and 8800 points.

The general index grew 7.19% since the beginning of 2018, which is the highest amid Arab peers, the financial analyst said.

The insurance sector topped the QSE's gainers with 10.55%, followed by the real estate and the industrial with 7.92% and 5.80%, respectively.

Similarly, the banking sector rose 5.10%, while the transportation sector surged 4.67%, followed by the commodities with 4.05%, and the real estate with 3.79%.

While, the banking sector topped the QSE in terms of trading value with 38.95%, followed by the industrial, real estate, and commodities sectors which recorded 21.7%, 17.07% and 9.36%, respectively.

Masraf Al Rayan stock led the market in terms of liquidity, making up 31.76%, while Qatar National Bank (QNB) saw 9.39% hike, and Barwa Real Estate soared 7.19%.

The banking sector also led the bourse in terms of volume, acquiring 31.76% of the QSE’s traded volume, followed by the industrial, real estate, and transportation sectors with 26.54%, 23.62%, and 6.3%, respectively.

Over the course of the week, 33 stocks levelled up, spearheaded by Qatar Insurance, which gained 14.13%, while 11 stocks dropped, headed by Ahli Bank which slid 21.16%, and one stock remained unchanged.

Translated by: Kholoud Mohamed Hussein