Qatar Stock Exchange In Focus: QSE Index Down 3% YTD; Will Iran's Attack On US Air Base Impact Qatari Stocks?

The Qatar stock market will be in focus on Tuesday, June 24, after Iran attacked the US air base in Qatar. In what Iran calls a retaliation against the US airstrikes on its nuclear facility, the Islamic regime launched missiles at the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. This operation was called an Annunciation of Victory by Iran, while Qatar condemned the attack but reserved its decision on retaliating.

Meanwhile, in another news, US President Donald Trump has announced that Iran and Israel have agreed upon a ceasefire. The global market will be in focus accordingly on Tuesday.

The government of the Islamic Republic Of Iran tweeted that, the Secretariat of the Supreme National Security Council announced that in response to the aggressive and brazen action of the United States against Iran's nuclear sites and facilities hours ago, the powerful armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran smashed the US forces' airbase in Al Udeid, Qatar."

Meanwhile, as per the Iran International English news, Iran's Supreme National Security Council said in a statement that the operation against US forces in Qatar's Al-Udeid base was successful, and that "the number of missiles used equalled the number of bombs the US employed in its attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.

However, Qatar whom Iran refers to as its friendly neighbour was displeased by Iran's action. In a statement, Advisor to the Prime Minister and Official Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Majed al-Ansari expressed strong condemnation of the attack that targeted Al-Udeid Air Base by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

Qatar considered the attack a 'flagrant violation of the sovereignty'.

Noteworthily, Ansari also affirmed that Qatar reserves the right to respond directly in a manner equivalent to the nature and scale of its brazen aggression, in line with international law.

Ansari confirmed that Qatar's Air defences successfully thwarted the attack and intercepted the Iranian missiles.

Qatar Stock Exchange:

On June 23, the QE Index of Qatar ended at 10,332.82, up 0.5%. However, the index is down nearly 3% year-to-date.

Stocks like Qatar German Co. Med, Gulf International, Baladn, Doha Bank, and Techno Q were top gainers with the upside of 2.6% to nearly 4.2%. But the top losers were QGRI, QLM, Dukhan Bank, QISI, and Beema which were down by 1.4% to 2.9%.

On the Qatar stock exchange, there are a total of 611,393,854,352.07 owned portfolios, of which, 85.6% are owned by Qataris and 14.4% held by non-Qatari investors. Meanwhile, there are a total of 997,326 investors as of June 23, on Qatar stock exchange, of which, 99.1% are individual investors and 0.9% are institutions.

The Qatar Stock Exchange is the principal stock market of Qatar. QSE is a full member of the World Federation of Exchanges and was recently upgraded by the MSCI and the S&P Dow Jones Indices, as per Wikipedia.

Iran-Israel ceasefire:

Through his Truth Social account, US President Donald Trump said, "CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE! It has been fully agreed by and between Israel and Iran that there will be a Complete and Total CEASEFIRE (in approximately 6 hours from now, when Israel and Iran have wound down and completed their in progress, final missions!), for 12 hours, at which point the War will be considered, ENDED! Officially, Iran will start the CEASEFIRE and, upon the 12th Hour, Israel will start the CEASEFIRE and, upon the 24th Hour, an Official END to THE 12 DAY WAR will be saluted by the World. During each CEASEFIRE, the other side will remain PEACEFUL and RESPECTFUL. On the assumption that everything works as it should, which it will, I would like to congratulate both Countries, Israel and Iran, on having the Stamina, Courage, and Intelligence to end, what should be called, "THE 12 DAY WAR." This is a War that could have gone on for years, and destroyed the entire Middle East, but it didn't, and never will! God bless Israel, God bless Iran, God bless the Middle East, God bless the United States of America, and GOD BLESS THE WORLD!"

This comes after US used its B2 bombers to hit Iran's three key nuclear sites. Iran and Israel have been exchanging heavy missiles on each other since June 13.