Doha, January 05 (QNA) – The general index of Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) recorded a positive performance during the first week of January, and achieved a growth of 4.35 percent to close its transactions at 11145.31 points, to gain 464.24 points compared to its level in the last week of last December, supported by anticipation of the annual results of companies and hints by the US Federal Reserve to slow down the rate of raising Interest rates, to break the index barrier of 11 thousand points.
The Analyst and financial expert Dr. Hashim Al-Sayed, Chairman of Qatar Association of Certified Public Accountants (QCPA), said in a statement to Qatar News Agency (QNA) that the general index of the stock exchange during the current year witnessed a positive rebound to exceed the barrier of 11,000 points, compared to last week, driven by a package of factors, most notably the approaching launch date of annual corporate results for the year 2022, and hints of the US Federal Reserve to reduce the pace of raising interest rates, in addition to the arrival of stock prices to attractive levels, which prompted investors to increase purchases, especially Gulf and foreign portfolios during the past days.
The weekly report of the Qatar Stock Exchange revealed an increase in the market value at the end of the week’s trading, to reach QR 631.930 billion, compared to its level last week, which amounted to QR 608.215 billion, while the value of stock trading was about QR 1.564 billion through the sale of 438,997,289 shares, as a result of the implementation of 57,649 deal across all sectors.
In his statement to (QNA), the financial market expert expected that the companies listed on the stock exchange would achieve outstanding results during the past year, pointing out that the banking sector benefited from raising interest rates in attracting deposits, and the industrial sector also benefited from energy prices, which recorded their highest level at USD128 a barrel in March.
He also expected the services and real estate sectors to benefit from the momentum of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, which will reflect positively on the annual results, pointing out that Qatari companies are expected to provide generous cash dividends due to the availability of liquidity.
Al-Sayed pointed out that the market’s performance during the current week interacted positively with the results of the minutes of the US Federal Reserve’s policy meeting, which showed the agreement of all officials on the need to slow down the pace of large increases in interest rates.
He said that there is some kind of reassurance that raising interest rates will be at a slower pace, fluctuating between 25 and 50 points, and that inflation data in America, which is scheduled to be announced next week, will reinforce this trend.
(QNA)