Mubasher: The Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) has been affected adversely by Turkey's currency crisis. The Qatari bourse ended Sunday’s trading session in negative territory, after the general index fell 251.86 points, or 2.55%, to 9,635 points.

The banking sector topped the QSE’s losers declining 3.59%, as the heavyweight Qatar National Bank (QNB) and the Commercial Bank of Qatar (CBQ) lost 4.7% and 4.1%, respectively.

QNB, the largest bank in the Middle East and Africa, owns Finansbank in Turkey, while (CBQ) has a majority stake in Turkish lender Alternatifbank, according to Arab News.

It is worth noting that the Turkish Lira witnessed a drop last week as US President Donald Trump doubled tariffs on Turkish steel and aluminum imports.

This tension began when Turkey refused to release an American evangelical pastor accused of being involved in a coup d’état scheme against the government.

The troubled relations between both countries, which followed by sanctions against Ankara that dragged down the Lira, had a negative impact on the QSE too.

On Friday, 10 June, lira fell 18 %, hitting the lowest level.