Doha: Shrugging off the impact of COVID-19 outbreak, Qatar Stock Exchange (QE) Index has surged over 20 percent since March 9. The stock market has outperformed other regional markets in terms of growth, reflecting resilience of Qatar’s stock market.
The QE Index had closed at 8,310, its lowest closing level of the year, on March 9, as investors sentiments were hurt by rising COVID-19 cases and falling oil prices. Helped by supportive policies by the government and other stakeholders, the stock market has grown stronger since March and breached 10,000 level this month. QSE’s market capitalisation has also risen from QR455bn on March 9 to QR597bn yesterday, registering a growth of 31 percent.
The QE Index closed yesterday at 10,056, clocking a robust growth of 21 percent since its closing on March 9. Qatar’s stock market has surpassed other regional stock markets. Abu Dhabi’s General Index has registered 12 percent growth, as it moved from 4039 on March 9 to 4532 points yesterday, while Dubai Financial Market General Index has around 7.5 percent during the same period. Oman’s MSM 30 Index has registered a fall of around 4.9 percent during the same period.
Ahmed Akl, Doha based financial analyst
“Shares had fallen to multi-year low in March and April due to COVID-19 outbreak and falling oil prices. Investors were taken aback by the pandemic but gradually their confidence was restored after the government announced measures to support equity market. The low prices in March-April also created investment opportunities for investors. After realising the effect of COVID-19 on economy was less than anticipated, the investors started pouring money into shared again,” Ahmed Akl, Doha based financial analyst told The Peninsula.
“During COVID-19, companies’ performance was comparatively better than corporate in other countries. The corporate earnings in Qatar declined around 20 percent in the first half of the year, which is comparatively less than corporate earnings in other countries. Qatar was also assigned stable ratings by global rating agencies, even in these difficult times, which has increased investors’ confidence in Qatari market and economy,” Akl added.
The government had announced QR10bn support for Qatar’s capital market in March, which boosted the confidence of market.
“Going forward, the third quarter results will determine the course of action for stock market. Technically speaking, 9950-10000 level is an important support level for the market, if it is not breached then we can see market moving up to 10200 -10400 range,” said Akl.
Global rating agency Moody’s had affirmed Qatar’s long-term issuer and foreign currency senior unsecured debt ratings at Aa3 and maintained stable outlook in September this year. The S&P Global Ratings had also affirmed its ‘AA-/a-1+’ long and short term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings on Qatar and maintained stable outlook.
