Mubasher: The Qatar Exchange saw a positive performance last week, as the main index made its biggest gains since January 2016, with the market capital growing by QAR 35.77 billion.

The main index surged this week by 6.49% to end the week at 9,308.38 points, gaining a total of 539.45 points.

The market cap went up by 8.03% to QAR 480.68 billion, compared to QAR 444.9 billion by the end of the week before.

Five market sectors rose this week, led by banks with 9.19%, industry with 8.87%, as well as real estate with 7.36%, goods with 2.67%, and telecom with 1.78%.

On the other hand, the insurance and transportation sectors lost 3.33% and 0.61%, respectively.

Traded values surged by 273.49% to QAR 2.77 billion, from QAR 742.66 million in the previous week, while volumes jumped 125.18% to 89.79 million shares from 39.87 million.

The market gains were supported by the surge of Qatar National Bank (QNB) and Industries Qatar after the two rose the limits on foreign ownership to 49%, in line with the demands of the boure’s CEO Rashid Al-Mansouri to encourage investments in the local market.