Arab stocks steady, buoyed by climbing oil prices, earnings

Oct 16, 2009, 12:12 GMT

Amman - Arab stock markets gained fresh ground this week as investors looked favourably to the rising oil prices and early reports of third quarter results, financial analysts said Friday.

They noticed that crude prices would serve as a 'catalyst' for regional bourses in the forthcoming weeks.

'We believe that regional stocks gained support from rising oil prices and the preliminary positive reports about the performance of listed firms in the third quarter of the year,' Wajdi Makhamreh, Chief Operating Officer of the Amman-based Sanabel International Holding, told German press agency dpa.

'I think that crude prices will act as a catalyst for Arab bourses in the coming weeks as higher oil prices will mean larger surplus petrodollars that seek to find investment outlets, including stock markets,' he said.

Makhamreh believed that regional stock markets, particularly in the Gulf region, would continue to have 'psychological linkage' with global markets and to show responses to economic indicators in the United States and other major economies.

Saudi shares extended gains this week, deriving support from climbing oil prices and third quarter earnings of listed companies.

The Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) of the Saudi stock exchange gained 2.14 per cent this week, closing at 6,449.81 points.

TASI is currently 34.3 per cent higher than the year's start, according to the weekly report of the Riyadh-based Bakheet Investment Group (BIG).

The report expected the Saudi market to remain steady in the coming weeks as investors still adopted an 'optimistic' attitude towards third quarter corporate profits.

However, the BIG said that investors would be awaiting the quarterly earnings of blue chips, particularly the Saudi Arabian Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC).

Jordanian shares remained subdued this week due to what Makhamreh described as lack of confidence, deficient liquidity and speculative trading.

The all-share index of the Amman Stock Exchange edged higher, closing at 2,649 points which represents a 0.14 cent gain over last week's close, according to the ASE weekly report.

Kuwait's KSE all-share price index shed 1.8 per cent, closing at 7,708 points.

The benchmarks of the United Arab Emirates stock exchanges of Dubai and Abu Dhabi went up by 2.9 per cent and 1.5 per cent, closing respectively at 2,351 points and 3,242 points.

Egypt's AGX30 index, measuring the performance of the market's 30 most active stocks, gained 6 per cent, closing at 7,077 points.