Doha: The main index of the Qatar Stock Exchange experienced a decline in early trading on Thursday, registering a fall of 0.64% as several major sectors faced losses.

According to Qatar News Agency, the benchmark index decreased by 67.99 points, bringing it to 10,509 points compared to the previous session's close. The downturn was attributed to weaker performances across five key sectors: banks and financial services, industry, transport, real estate, and consumer goods and services.

The banking and financial services sector witnessed the most significant drop, declining by 0.84%, while the industrial sector saw a reduction of 0.91%. Transport shares fell by 0.54%, and the real estate sector decreased by 0.48%. The consumer goods and services sector slipped by 0.10%.

Conversely, two sectors recorded gains during the early trading period. The insurance sector increased by 1.03%, and telecommunications saw a slight rise of 0.15%.

Trading activity reached approximately QR 38.02 million by 10:00 local time, with the turnover spread across about 13.9 million traded shares through 2,497 transactions, as per figures from the Qatar Stock Exchange.