There was huge excitement, especially among local retail investors as they took to the trading floor yesterday of what is now known as Qatar Exchange, instead of the more-than-a-decade-old Doha Securities Market (DSM). Anticipation that soon they will be able to trade in futures, commodities, bonds and other financial securities in an international environment to be ushered in by the bourse’s world-renowned partner, the New York Stock Exchange Euronext, made them feel proud. On the first day of Qatar Exchange coming into being yesterday nothing, though, changed in terms of trading style and norms. There was studied caution among some investors who felt that venturing into futures and derivatives, for instance, could expose them to unwanted risks, but investor mood was overall upbeat. “We are really happy that soon our bourse will become an international marketplace and we would be able to trade in so many papers, particularly bonds,” said an investor who gave his name as Abdulaziz. Another said he had only heard of derivatives and knew that these had caused the current world financial crisis. “Nevertheless, it would be good if they are traded here, for you need all kinds of instruments to make a market well-diversified.” But the buoyant mood of investors on debut of the bourse’s new incarnation did not translate into the main index taking any quantum leap. It rather slipped 112 points to 6,473. Analysts said they did not see any reason for the dip, especially as foreign institutional investors, who had been indulging in profit-taking after the benchmark index touched the 7,000-mark, are back on what promises to be a buying spree. “Foreign portfolios are back to business,” said Thamer Hassan. According to him, the fall today (yesterday) was, though, much less than that on the previous trading day on Thursday, which is a good sign. A little surprised, he said, even the Saudi market performed better today (yesterday). Profit-taking was not unexpected, particularly as the index had been gaining since March, and a correction seemed inevitable. According to another analyst who did not want to be identified, low volumes are expected to continue until there are indications of the company second quarter (Q2) results which should begin trickling in by early next month. “I think it would be pragmatic not to expect anything major happening on the bourse until then. We expect the market to remain calm until volumes improve early next month,” said the analyst. http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection=Qatar+News&month=June2009&file=Local_News200906222924.xml

Follow us on our social media channels: @ILQlive @ILQlive @ILoveQtr ILoveQatar