Arab bourses mixed after Muslim holiday

Amman - Arab stock markets showed mixed performance this week after a week-long holiday that market the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, financial analysts said Friday. However, they believed that regional stock exchanges would continue to reflect the situation at global markets, world recovery predictions and the movement of oil prices on the world markets. 'We believe that regional markets will remain for several weeks to come a captive of what takes place on global bourses and prophecies relating to the world upturn,' an Amman-based portfolio manager told German Press Agency dpa. 'I think the success reportedly achieved at the G20 summit at Pittsburg and the prediction by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that recovery would materialize in the first half of 2010 will have a positive impact on Middle East markets,' he said. He pointed out that the third quarter results of listed firms would be a key factor to reckon with during the coming weeks. Saudi shares scored strong gains this week, buoyed mainly by the banking sector and the outcome of the Pittsburg summit. The Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) of the Arab world's largest bourse climbed 6.3 per cent this week, surpassing the 6,000-point hurdle and closing week at 6,322.04 points. TASI is currently 31.6 per cent higher than the year's start, according to the weekly report of the Riyadh-based Bakheet Investment Group (BIG). It attributed this week's gains to a 10.7 per cent rise in the value of banking shares, particularly SAMBA which climbed 28.51 per cent. The banking gains followed an agreement between financial institutions and two Saudi groups facing difficulties as well as a report by Credit Suisse which upgraded the target price for six Saudi banks including SAMBA, the report said. 'Unless new incentives fuel the market, we expect the Saudi stock market to remain steady during the coming days, awaiting the release of third quarter results for blue chips,' it added. Jordanian shares lost ground this week due to what analysts said was sell-offs to cover positions before the end of September as well as to liquidity shortage. The all-share index of the Amman Stock Exchange shed 1.11 per cent this week, closing at 2,661 points, according to the ASE weekly report. Kuwait's KSE all-share price index declined 0.6 per cent this week, to close at 7,755 points. The United Arab Emirates stock exchanges of Dubai and Abu Dhabi received fresh boost from foreign buying this week, according to analysts. The benchmarks of Dubai and Abu Dhabi gained 3.1 per cent and 1.2 per cent respectively, closing week at 2,195 points 3,134 points. Egypt's AGX30 index, measuring the performance of the market's 30 most active stocks, shed 0.6 per cent this week, closing at 6,806 points.