The Saudi market was the main loser this week reflecting
worries over falling oil prices, while the Egyptian stock exchange was the key
gainer led by telecom and financial groups, they said.
The analysts expected the sluggish trading to continue at
regional markets until the end of the month of Ramadan around Sept. 10.
“I believe the slump on Arab stock exchanges will persist
until the end of Ramadan, barring any dramatic developments on global markets,”
an Amman-based portfolio manager said.
“We think oil prices will remain a key factor that help to
decide the trend of regional markets for the coming weeks,” he said.
Crude prices fell for the third week in a row to around 73
dollar per barrel on Friday in response to an expectedly retreating demand due
to weak economic indicators particularly in the United States.
Saudi shares were volatile last week, reflecting movement of
oil prices, shrinking liquidity and worries of global markets, analysts said.
The Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) of the Arab world’s
largest stock exchange shed 1.96 percent last week, closing at 6,001.24 points.
The week had a negative closing and witnessed four negative
trading sessions on Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday for the week. On a
week to date basis, TASI made a consolidated loss of -1.96 percent. The
liquidity for the week came in at SR7.2 billion as compared to SR10.5 billion
of last week, the Financial Transaction House (FTH) said in its daily market commentary.
At a certain juncture, TASI fell about 1 percent below the
6,000-point psychological barrier with pressure from the petrochemical sector
in what analysts described as profit taking.
The Amman Stock Exchange was also the scene for narrow
fluctuations last week that reflected a persistent liquidity crunch and lack of
confidence, analysts said.
The ASE all-share index shed 0.2 per cent last week, closing
at 2,250 points, according to the market’s weekly report.
Kuwaiti stocks were volatile last week due to profit taking
tactics despite reports of fresh liquidity entering the market.
The KSE all-share index shed 0.54 per cent on weekly basis
and analysts said the market found support from the banking and investment
sectors.
“Optimism has apparently returned to the market after the
government dropped hints it wants local banks to play a role in financing a
development plan,” according to the weekly report of the Gulf Invest group.
It attributed the market’s decline at the end of the week to
a profit-taking move.
The United Arab Emirates shares were steady last week, but
failed to live up to leaks that the Dubai World was planning to sell some of
its assets for repayment of its debts.
The benchmark of the Dubai exchange gained 0.36 percent on
weekly basis, closing at 1,497 points, while the Abu Dhabi index shed 0.23
percent, closing at 2,501 points.
“The leaks have been apparently insufficient to restore
investors’ confidence in the market,” said Samir Jaouni, director general of
the Dubai-based Middle East brokerage.
Egypt’s AGX30 index, which measures the performance of the
market’s 30 most active stocks, gained 1.3 percent, closing at 6,474 points.
The Egyptian bourse found support from Orascom Telecom and
the Hermes financial group, analysts said.