Doha: Qatar will reshuffle its leading stocks index DSM 20 to boost liquidity and transparency, adding heavyweight stocks including Qatar Telecom to the benchmark, Qatar Exchange said yesterday.
The renamed QE index will launch on May 6, with stock weightings determined by companies' free-float capitalisation and their average daily traded value. These will be measured at the market close on April 29, the exchange said in a statement.
"The new index will reflect what fund managers who benchmark against the index can accomplish," said Keith Edwards, head of asset management at Doha-based investment company The First Investor.
Qtel, the fourth-largest listing on the Qatar bourse but which has been excluded from the leading index so far, will be one of five stocks added to the index.
"Qtel is one of the major stocks in Qatar and should be in the index," added Edwards.
Qatar Electricity and Water, the ninth-largest stock by market capitalisation, Vodafone Qatar, Gulf International Services and Qatar Insurance are the other names joining the index.
"The increased transparency means that the selection of stocks will be clear and predictable to all listed companies and market participants," said Andre Went, Qatar Exchange chief executive.
"The overall enhancements to the current index are beneficial to public investors in Qatar and will contribute to the development of the liquidity of the market."
To be included in the revamped index, stocks must trade in a minimum 5 per cent range annually and individuals must be allowed to own at least 1 per cent of a company's shares.
Gulf Warehousing Company, Qatar Fuel, Medicare Group, Qatar Islamic Insurance and Qatar Meat and Livestock will be dropped.
Qatar's exchange, which in 2009 entered a strategic partnership with NYSE Euronext, has gained 7.7 per cent this year to be the third-best performing Gulf Arab benchmark, behind Saudi Arabia and Oman.
Volumes remain lacklustre, with 6.2 million shares changing hands on the index on Tuesday, 40 per cent below the 12-month daily average.
