RIYADH, 7 May 2004 — Saudi stocks soared 5.8 percent to an all-time high in record volumes in the week to Thursday, continuing their rally as investors were encouraged by good corporate results and high oil prices added to the lift.

The all-share index of the largest Arab bourse closed at 5,802.91 points, up from 5,485.46 a week earlier. It is up 30.8 percent this year after rising 76 percent in 2003,

“It’s a bull market rebounding from last week’s correction. Investors have seen excellent results and are putting part of the $5 billion they received in dividends back into the market,” said Joe Kawkabani, analyst at Dubai-based Shuaa Capital.

Others said the rise was partly speculative. “Some 85 percent of shares are rising on fundamentals but the rest are soaring on speculation because of high liquidity. I expect a correction in the coming weeks,” one trader said.

Bakheet Financial Advisors noted that the record came as oil prices are closing on their highest level since 1990, but cautioned that the sharp increase in share prices was “speculative” and expecting the market to undergo a “revaluation” in the future.

Weekly turnover rose to a record SR55.2 billion ($14.7 billion) from SR40.4 billion last week.

Saudi Electricity Co., the most active stock with 21.7 percent of turnover, climbed 17.2 percent to SR132.75, while market heavyweight Saudi Telecom added 6.2 percent to SR545.

Advancers outnumbered decliners 65-4, while two shares were unchanged.

Strong oil revenues have been a boon for the economy of the world’s biggest crude exporter, helping corporate earnings and boosting share liquidity in a year-long rally.

Meanwhile, Egypt’s HFI index closed at 15,984.04 points, up 2.8 percent on the week, driven by cement and bank shares. Cairo’s HC Brokerage firm said the rise came after reports on increasing cement exports and good banking results for the first quarter.

In the United Arab Emirates, the NBAD index closed at 4,961.13 points, up 2.3 percent, driven by demand on shares of real estate company Emaar and telecommunications company Etisalat.

Qatar’s CQB index closed at 1,038.38 points, down 3.4 percent on the week, on profit-taking. Year-to-date, the index has gained more than 40 percent, the best performance in the Gulf.

Profit-taking also caused Lebanon’s BSI index to shed 1 percent to 557.98 points. The Beirut stock market surged 4.9 percent in the previous week.

The Palestinian Al-Quds index gained 1.2 percent to 185.42 points.

In Iran, the TEPIX index closed at 11,652.31 points, down one percent on the week, while the other markets of the regions recorded fluctuations of less than one percent either way.

Bahrain’s BSE at 2,407.71 points, up 0.4 percent. Oman’s MSM index closed at 303.81 points, down 0.8 percent, and Kuwait’s KSE at 5,014.80 points, down 0.7 percent.