Arab stocks close week higher on annual earnings, Greek bailout

Feb 17, 2012, 14:02 GMT

Amman - Arab stock markets extended gains this week as investors appeared upbeat over the annual earnings of listed firms and Greece's bailout deal, financial officials said Friday.

The improving performance of the world's leading economies, particularly in the United States and Germany, helped to fuel optimism particularly in the Gulf area that larger global demand for oil would keep crude prices above 100 dollars a barrel, officials said.

'I think Greece's approval of the second bailout plan is leaving a positive impact on regional stocks,' Nizar Taher, head of brokerage at the Jordan Ahli Bank, told dpa.

However, he said that the Europeans would have to adopt 'more comprehensive measures that successfully and permanently address the sovereign debt crisis.'

Taher expected oil prices to go up as a result of world recovery indications and any possible escalation in the showdown between Iran and Western powers over Tehran's nuclear file and threats to close the strategic Hormuz straights.

'Any developments in this respect will certainly have their impact on Middle East markets that remain as one of the main investment outlets for surplus petrodollars,' he said.

Saudi stocks extended gains this week, with the Tadawul All Shares Index (TASI) of the Arab world's largest bourse gaining 0.22 per cent and closing at a 21-month high of 6,811.97 points.

'There is optimism in the market which is fuelled by annual results and the improving performance of the US and Chinese economies, the key clients of Saudi petrochemical products,' said Abdullah Baeshe, CEO of the Riyadh-based TeamOne financial consultancy group.

He also attributed the robust performance of the Saudi stock market to local economic fundamentals, mainly the huge public spending and the 'coherence between the state's fiscal and monetary decisions.'

Kuwaiti stocks rallied this week, buoyed by the ostensible political harmony between the government and the opposition-dominated new national assembly following the February 2 early elections, analysts said.

Kuwait's KSE all-share index gained 2 per cent on a weekly basis, closing at 5,982 points.

Dubai's index gained 1.9 per cent this week, closing at 1,516 points. This week's gain raised to 17 per cent the total rise in Dubai's benchmark over the past month due to intense foreign buying, analysts said.

Abu Dhabi's index scored modest gains of 0.3 per cent on weekly basis, to close at 2,474 points.

Qatar's index shed 1.7 per cent this week, closing at 8,544 points while Bahrain benchmark gained 0.6 per cent with a weekly close of 1,144 points.

Jordanian stocks suffered this week mainly due to the economic spill-over of the Syrian uprising and a week-long strike of Jordanian teachers.

The all-share index of the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) fell 0.6 per cent on weekly basis, closing at 1,957 points.

Egyptian shares extended gains for the third week in a row due to the relative tranquility on the political scene that prompted strong buying on the part of both Arab and Egyptian investors, analysts said.

Egypt's AGX30 index, which measures the performance of the market's 30 most active stocks, jumped 4.5 per cent this week, closing at 4,967 points.