Doha-Mubasher: Qatar Exchange (QE) continued its downward trend for the second successive session on Wednesday.

QE index fell 1.32% or 161.65 points to close at 12130.25 points, hitting its lowest levels since February 2.  

Financial market analyst Ahmed Akl said that QE decline is attributed to weak support level of 12450 points the index broke it lower yesterday due to weak liquidity.

Trading volume reached 5.18 million shares, at a turnover of QAR 335.36 million, traded through 3756 transactions.

The banks and financial services sector led losers by 2.09%, weighed by Qatar National Bank and Masraf Al Rayan that lost 2.94% and 2.78% respectively.

Meanwhile, the insurance sector was the only gainer by 0.02%, backed by Al Khaleej Takaful Group and Qatar General Insurance that gained 1.48% and 0.58% respectively.

According to the analyst, a close at the strong support level of 12100 points will show reduced pressures, while a break below it to 12000-point level will signal further declines in the coming period.

Akl highlighted that the support level will be at 11800 points if the index falls below the 12000-point level.

On the stocks’ level, Doha Insurance Company topped decliners by 3.57%, while Qatari German Medical Devices led rising stocks by 2.76%.

Vodafone Qatar was the most active company with a trading volume of about 596,350 shares that changed hands at QAR 10.6 million.

The index will continue to suffer profit-taking on Thursday amid the announcement of Doha Bank for its dividend distribution, according to Akl.