By: Hanan Mohamed
Qatar Exchange (QE) retreated by 4.68% or 574.38 points to close at 11,711.40 points by the end of the first quarter of 2015, compared to 12,285.78 points by the end of 2014.
Al Rayan Islamic index added 4.27% to 4,276.43 points compared to 4,101.39 points, whereas QE All Share index lost 0.55% to 3,133.60 points during the period compared to 3151 points.
Ahmed Maher, financial analyst at Enmaa Financial Services, said that QE negative performance during the first quarter of 2015 was affected by many factors including the plunge in oil prices, geopolitical events and cash dividends.
The cash dividends led to a huge decline in stocks, thus pressuring the index to break the important support levels in the past period.
During Q1-15, the real estate sector topped gainers by 6.74% due to a rise in Barwa Real Estate and Ezdan Holding Company by 13.60% and 4.56% respectively.
Meanwhile, the telecom sector led decliners by 10.73% in the same period, weighed by Ooredoo which lost 16.85%. However, Vodafone Qatar gained 8.39%.
End of dividend distributions and return of strong liquidity to blue chips pushed the market higher, Maher said.
Trading volume reached 558.25 million shares in Q1-15 at a turnover of QAR 24.68 billion, compared to696.2 million shares at a turnover of QAR 39 billion by the end of 2014.
The analyst expected the market to recover in the second quarter of 2015 unless unexpected political events take place.
in the coming period.
The inclusion of QE in FTSE index in 2015 will result in a selling pressure on the blue-chips stocks 
As for March 2015, the index lost 5.90% to 11,711.40 points compared to 12,445.34 points in February 2015.
The insurance sector was the only gainer in March, rising 1.92%, while the telecom sector was the major dragger, falling 6.88%.
Trading volume reached 130.65 billion shares at a turnover of QAR 6.6 million in March, compared to a trading volume of 262.9 million shares at a turnover of QAR 9.8 million in February.
Translated by: Julian Nabil