Qatar Stock Exchange Closes Lower

The Qatari stock market closed lower on Sunday after statements from two officials of the Federal Reserve, the US central bank, led to a decline in investor optimism regarding the imminent abandonment of interest rate hike decisions. In an economic conference, Federal Reserve Board member Christopher Waller stated, "Core inflation is not going to decline as I thought, which may require further monetary tightening." The Qatari index fell 0.1%, continuing its losses for the second session, with shares of Qatar National Bank, the largest bank in the Gulf, dropping 0.2%, and Qatar Islamic Bank shares down 1.1%.