Doha: Qatar Exchange ended in the red area when trading closed yesterday at 12,225.19 points, down 172.02 points, or 1.39 percent, from the previous closing of 12,397.21 points on Thursday.
The volume of shares was fell to 29,338,180 from Thursday 39,124,982 and the value of shares decreased to QR925,573,279.75 from QR1,429,441,242.59 on Thursday. Among the top losers were Qatar National Bank, whose share was down 1.74 percent to QR192.50, Industries Qatar lost 1.46 percent to QR181.80, Commercial Bank of Qatar fell 3.59 percent to QR67.20 and International Islamic Bank decreased by 4.31 percent to QR79.90. The banking and financial sector index was down 1.64 percent points while consumer goods and services sector index dropped 0.10 percent. The industrial sector lost 0.19 percent while insurance sector added 0.39 percent.
Most stock markets in the Gulf fell as investors booked profits after a particularly strong week and Saudi Arabia’s Al Rajhi Bank published first-quarter earnings that missed analysts’ estimates.
Dubai’s bourse retreated 1.7 percent to 4,759 points after gaining 4.8 percent last week on a relatively light news flow and with most first-quarter results yet to come.
Abu Dhabi’s bourse edged down only 0.2 percent as some of the bigger names dodged the profit-taking bout. At 5,163 points, it remained just above its 2008 peak of 5,159 points, which it surpassed last week. QNA & Reuters
