Profit booking pressure in the telecom and banking sectors on Thursday further dragged the Qatar Stock Exchange to make it settle below 9,800 levels.

Strong buying interests of foreign institutions helped the Qatar Stock Exchange comfortably settle above 10,000 levels this week.

The Qatar Stock Exchange on Thursday continued to remain under bearish spell mainly on increased net selling by local retail investors and foreign funds’ bearish outlook.

The Qatar Stock Exchange largely remained flat on Wednesday despite strong buying interests in the Islamic equities.

Strong buying interests of foreign institutions on Monday imparted sufficient thrust to the Qatar Stock Exchange, whose key sensitive index surpassed 9,400 levels.

The Qatar Stock Exchange saw six of the seven sectors under bearish spell, yet it settled in the positive terrain on Sunday.

Foreign funds’ bearish outlook and non-Qatari individuals’ increased net selling on Thursday extended the weak run on the Qatar Stock Exchange for the second straight session.

Islamic stocks were seen outperforming conventional ones this week in the Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) which added a huge 235 points to its key index and more than QR10bn to capitalisation.

The Qatar Stock Exchange on Sunday opened the week strong to surpass 9,000 points, mainly on the back of buying interests of local retail investors.

The struggling telco said it would shed 8,000 jobs from a workforce of 32,000 to save A$1bn ($738mn).

The Qatar Stock Exchange on Wednesday continued its bearish run for the fifth straight session to settle below 9,100 levels, mainly on increased selling pressure from domestic funds.

The Qatar Stock Exchange on Tuesday retreated below 9,200 levels mainly dragged by telecom and banking equities.