Qatar Stock Exchange Headquarters in West Bay.
Qatar Stock Exchange index declined at the end of trading this week, recording a decline for the second week in a row during the month of May.
Over the course of the week, the index fell by 447.28 points, equivalent to 3.29 percent, to settle at the level of 13,143 points compared to the closing of last week, far from its historical levels recorded last month.
In this context, Dr. Abdullah Al Khater, an economist, told QNA that the stock market index is currently witnessing a natural corrective movement, which intersects with the situation and pressures that the global economy is exposed to, represented in the presence of inflationary stagnation, high interest rates and the Russian-Ukrainian war.
In his analysis of the weekly performance of the stock exchange, he said, the decline in Qatar Stock Exchange index cannot be separated from the fluctuations in which the global economy moves.
Al Khater indicated that Qatar Stock Exchange index has maintained its consistency and outstanding performance since the beginning of the year, with a growth rate of 13 percent, despite the decline in the last period.
The economist considered the performance of the stock exchange, among the best in the world, compared to the declines witnessed by many other markets, benefiting from the elements of solidity enjoyed by the Qatari economy, and its distance from the pressures witnessed by the global economy, given that Qatar is not a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) which gives it a margin to move with regards to selling oil in global markets, in addition to being one of the major producers of clean energy that is in great demand in global markets.
The weekly report of Qatar Stock Exchange pointed out that the market value of shares declined by the end of trading of the week to reach QR743bn, compared to its level last week of QR760.7bn, down by 2.30 percent.
Al Khater explained that Qatar Stock Exchange provides higher returns to investors compared to other investment channels that the investor resorts to in such periods, similar to the real estate sector, which returns 2 percent while investment returns in the stock market reach 5 percent.
The report indicated that the value of trading on shares this week amounted to QR4.37bn, through the sale of 1.1 billion shares, executed through 118,353 deals. Al Khater stressed that the results achieved by the listed companies in the first quarter of this year will lead the QSE index to higher levels in the coming period.
