Doha: Qatar Stock Exchange index dipped 31.92 points, or 0.27 percent, when the bourse closed trading at 11,731.64 points yesterday.
Indices of three sectors advanced and four declined. The market capitalisation decreased to QR633.78bn from QR635.64bn registered on Sunday. The traded value fell to QR200.26m with a volume of 6,152,173 shares from 3,744 transactions compared to QR264.82m with a volume of 6,821,396 shares from 3,956 transactions registered on Sunday.
Telecoms index made most gains with 0.71 percent gain to close at 1331.78 points, followed by real estate up 0.66 percent to 2,416.27 points and insurance 0.45 percent to 4,121,96 points.
Transport index declined the most, down 0.75 percent to 2,401.03 points, industries down 0.65 percent, banks and financial services dip 0.49 percent and consumer goods and services down 0.22 percent. From the 43 listed companies, shares of 42 saw trading. From these nine advanced, 28 went down, and five remained unchanged.
Elsewhere in the region, real estate-related shares led Dubai’s stock market higher while Saudi Arabia rose modestly because of higher oil prices. Heavy profit-taking, fuelled by weak economic data, continued to weigh on Egypt.
Gulf economies will probably imitate US monetary policy because of their currency pegs, and a delay to tightening is positive for the interest rate-sensitive real estate firms which are weighted heavily in Dubai. QNA/Reuters
