By Mahmoud Gamal:
Doha-Mubasher: The Qatar Exchange (QE) continued its negative performance for the fourth straight day, amid investor anticipation for the outcome of the European Central Bank (ECB) meeting. The market was also weighed by continued selling on blue chips.
The benchmark index shed 1.27% or 150.7 points to close at 11699.86 points, compared with 11849.63 points on Wednesday.
The market extended its losing run due to selling spree on some leading stocks mainly QNB, Doha Bank and Barwa, said Ahmed Aaql, capital market analyst.
However, the selling pressures were met with building more positions on some stocks like Islamic Holding as speculations came the dominant trend in the market, the analyst added.
The market decline was caused mainly by banks, real estate, industrials, telecommunications and services. Meanwhile, transportation and insurance rallied.
The analyst stated that liquidity levels were down due to blurry view and downbeat forecasts for global markets.
The market capitalization fell by QAR 7.5 billion to reach QAR 637.7 billion, compared with QAR 645.22 billion.
Translated by Sayed Abdel Rahman
Photo Credit: Arabianeye-Reuters