A file photo of the Qatar Stock Exchange in Doha.
Doha: Financial market analyst Youssef Bouhlaiqa attributed the decline in the Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) index this week to corrections and profit-taking following the announcements of semi-annual earnings and dividends by listed companies, in addition to the FTSE Russell Group’s semi-annual review of emerging market indices.
In his remarks to Qatar News Agency (QNA), the financial analyst pointed out that the QSE index recorded a significant increase during August, touching 11,800 points, but it declined this week to close at 11,226 points, down 115 points on a weekly basis, or 1.02 percent, due to the decline in the communications sectors by 1.72 percent, banks and financial services by 1.4 percent, transportation by 0.95 percent, insurance by 0.77 percent, and industry by 0.32 percent, while the shares of the real estate, services, and consumer goods sectors rose by 0.52 percent and 0.40 percent, respectively.
He noted that this decline is attributed to profit-taking following the announcements of listed companies’ earnings and dividends for the first half of this year, which led to price corrections.
This provided a significant momentum and opportunity for investors, speculators, and market participants to seize these opportunities, in addition to the review of the FTSE Russell Emerging Markets Index.
Profits of QSE-listed companies rose by 2.31 percent during the first half of 2025, reaching QR26.67bn on an annual basis. FTSE Russell Group also announced the results of its semi-annual review of emerging market indices, which will take effect after the close of trading on Sep. 18 for the Qatari market.
According to the review, companies included in the FTSE indices are Investment Holding, which has been included in the mid-cap index, while Aamal, Al Mahhar Holding, and Doha Insurance Group have been included in the smaller-cap index.
QSE’s weekly report revealed that stock trading reached approximately QR2.228bn, with an average of QR445m per session, through the sale of 758.028 million shares in 96,238 transactions.
Financial analyst Youssef Bouhlaiqa expects the market to rebound in September, given the Qatari market’s favorable internal data, including, growth rates, and an attractive investment environment.
