A national index represents the performance of a specific country’s stock market and reflects investor sentiment on the state of the economy.

The Gulf’s major stock markets fell in early trade on Monday, with the Qatari bourse leading the losses after a string of discouraging corporate earnings, Reuters reported.

The Qatari index fell 0.6%, with petrochemical manufacturer Industries Qatar dropping 4% after reporting a sharp decline in quarterly net profit.

Mesaieed Petrochemical fell 2.4% after revealing a quarterly net profit of 268.6 million riyals, a decrease from 442.9 million riyals the previous year.

Qatar Aluminium Manufacturing Co fell 3% after reporting a significant drop in first-quarter profit.

Drops in other gulf markets

Meanwhile, the Saudi benchmark index fell 0.2%, with Dr Sulaiman Al-Habib Medical Services falling 1.6% and Saudi National Bank falling 0.7%.

Dubai’s main stock index fell 0.1%, with Emirates Central Cooling Systems falling 1.8%, on track to extend losses from the previous session, when the company reported a drop in first-quarter profit.

The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC), the body in charge of developing the nuclear energy sector in the UAE, has signed three agreements with Chinese nuclear energy organisations in order to boost low-carbon nuclear power.

According to ENEC, the memorandums of understanding cover cooperation in nuclear energy operations, high temperature gas-cooled reactors, nuclear fuel supply and investment.