Fed rate hike weakens QSE sentiments; index declines 0.51%, M-cap erodes QR5bn

Fed rate hike weakens QSE sentiments; index declines 0.51%, M-cap erodes QR5bn

The Qatar Stock Exchange on Thursday declined 0.51%, reflecting global cues after the US Federal Reserve hiked the reference rate by 0.75% in order to tame the 40-year high inflation.

A higher than average selling pressure at the industrials, transport and banking counters led the 20-stock Qatar Index to shrink 65 points to 12,562.05 points, although it touched an intraday high of 12,671 points.

The Gulf funds were seen net profit takers in the market, whose year-to-date gains were at 8.05%.

The foreign institutions’ weakened net buying also had its influence in the bourse, whose capitalisation saw more than QR5bn or 0.73% decline to QR705.8bn, mainly on the back of mid and small cap segments.

The Islamic index was seen declining slower than the other indices in the market, where the industrials and banking sectors together constituted about 79% of the total trading volume.

The foreign individuals turned bearish in the bourse, which saw a total of 335,057 exchange traded funds (sponsored by Masraf Al Rayan and Doha Bank) valued at QR1.06mn changed hands across 55 deals.

The Arab individuals’ net buying slackened in the market, which saw no trading of sovereign bonds.

Total trade turnover and volumes were on the increase in the bourse, which saw