The Doha securities Market (DSM) yesterday announced a new-look DSM 20 Index with effect from January 1 next year. Four companies which make up the benchmark Index have been shunted out and four others will now take their place. The big surprise is the removal of Qatar Telecom. Others that have been excluded are Qatar Shipping, Qatar Navigation and Dlala Brokerage and Investment Holding. Entering the Index in their stead are Masraf Al Rayan, al khaliji, Gulf Holding and market biggie Barwa Real Estate. The decision to include and exclude companies is based on company capitalisation, number of traded shares, value of shares traded, share turnover ratio, number of traded days and number of transactions executed. The introduction of the new-look Index on January 1, 2009 will enable investors to ponder their investment strategies. On January 1, companies making up the DSM 20 Index will be Qatar National Bank, Commercialbank, Qatar International Islamic Bank, Qatar Islamic Bank, Doha Bank, Qatar Islamic Insurance, Salam International, United Development Company, National Leasing Holding, Qatar Meat & Livestock (Mawashi), Gulf Warehousing, Industries Qatar, Qatar Gas Transport (Nakilat) , Medicare Group, Qatar Real Estate Investment, Masraf Al Rayan, al khaliji, Qatar Fuel Company (Woqod), Barwa and Gulf Holding. The Index was first introduced in 1998 with 100 points at a time when there were a mere 17 companies listed. Once electronic trading was brought in on March 2002, the Index was multiplied by 10 to make it more indicative of market realities. Changes made to the Index are a matter of routine and is based in the findings of the DSM Management Committee. Meanwhile, the market slipped yesterday by 4.42 percent. Banking and finance fell by 3.78 percent, insurance was down 2.81 percent, industries tumbled 7.54 percent and the services sector dropped 3.72 percent. The Index stood at 7,569.23 points at the end of trading yesterday. For the week, the market lost 3.01 percent with market capitalisation at QR318bn. The Pen

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