Qatar’s bourse continued its downtrend for the third straight session amid selling pressures on leading stocks such as Gulf International Services and Barwa.

The index declined 0.47% or 64.87 points to close at 13690.02 compared with 13754.89 on Sunday.

Adnan Al-Dulaimi, general manager of Mena Financial and Economic Consultation, said the market was hurt today by the selloffs undertaken by several speculators. He added that speculators focused on selling bellwethers which achieved targets, and buying some small-cap stocks and other blue chips.

The insurance sector led decliners, plunging 1.38%. It was followed by real estate and transportation which dipped 0.97% and 0.70%, respectively.

Turnover declined from QAR 599.48 million to QAR 862.56 million, and trading volume fell from 11.12 million shares to 7.91 million shares.

Capital market expert Khalid Al-Ansari expected the market to stage a comeback in the next sessions, adding that the current profit-taking is ‘normal’.

Al-Ansari said the exchange is going through a historical stage of development, as the management seeks to join FTSE and the political GCC situation sees improvement.

The expert advised investors not to rush to sell and think carefully before taking any investment decisions because the local bourse is distinguished by stability and strong solvency.

(Written by Mahmoud Gamal; Translated by Abdul Maguid Aboshahla)