The Qatar Stock Exchange’s market capitalisation rose by 2.18% to reach QR594.1bn in the week that ended on Thursday, QNB Financial Services has said in a report.

The QSE’s market cap in the previous week stood at QR581.4bn, QNBFS said.

The QSE index increased by 253.95 points, or 2.43%, during the week, to close at 10,698.31.

Of the 47 listed companies, some 37 companies ended the week higher, while seven fell and three remained unchanged.

Vodafone Qatar (VFQS) was the “best” performing stock for the week, with a gain of 12.5% on 28.6mn shares traded.

On the other hand, Qatar Oman Investment Company (QOIS) was the “worst” performing stock with a decline of 8.7% on 26.3mn shares traded.

Qatar Islamic Bank (QIBK), Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding Company (MPHC) and QNB Group (QNBK) were the primary contributors to the weekly index gain.

QIBK was the biggest contributor to the index’s weekly increase, adding 90.5 points to the index. MPHC was the second biggest contributor to the mentioned gain, tacking on 25 points to the index.

Moreover, QNBK contributed 20.3 points to the index.

Trading value during the week increased by 9.5% to reach QR1.29bn compared with QR1.18bn in the previous week.

The banks and financial services sector led the trading value during the week, accounting for 58.3% of the total trading value.

The industrials sector was the second biggest contributor to the overall trading value, accounting for 13.1% of the total trading value.

QNB Group (QNBK) was the top value traded stock during the week with total traded value of QR281.7mn.

Trading volume increased by 0.69% to reach 406.2mn shares in the week under review compared with 403.4mn shares in the prior week. The number of transactions fell by 21.4% to reach 23,650 compared with 30,104 in the previous week.

The banks and financial services sector led the trading volume, accounting for 34.9%, followed by the industrials sector comprising 22.9% of the overall trading volume.

Ezdan Holding Group (ERES) was the top volume traded stock during the week with total traded volume of 37.3mn shares.

According to QNBFS, foreign institutions ended the week with net buying of QR309.2mn compared with a net buying of QR151.6mn in the previous week.

Qatari institutions turned negative with net selling of QR86.4mn compared with net buying of QR12.8mn in the week before.

Foreign retail investors remained negative with net selling of QR27.6mn compared with net selling of QR26mn in the previous week.

Qatari retail investors remained bearish with net selling of QR195.2mn compared with net selling of QR138.3mn in the week before.

Foreign institutions have bought (on a net basis) nearly $113.7mn worth of Qatari equities so far in 2020, QNBFS said.