CAIRO, 18 May 2003 — The Saudi stock market ended the trading week higher Thursday, and most other Middle East stocks also put in strong showings.

The other gainers were markets in Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain and Iran.

However, the Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) fell one percent on the week to Wednesday after months of heavy gains in what economists believe could be the start of a long overdue market correction. The Qatari and Palestinian bourses were also down.

Saudi shares shrugged off triple suicide bombings in Riyadh Monday, rising 0.6 percent in the week ending Thursday, traders said. The Tadawul All-Shares Index (TASI) finished the week at 2,998.06 points from 2,980.35 points last week.

The index followed a downward trend from Saturday through Monday, but rose steadily during the three days that followed attacks.

The TASI, which recorded its highest close ever on April 21 at 3,014.97 points and an all-time peak of 3,019 points during trading on April 8, briefly surpassed the psychological 3,000-point barrier on Thursday before sliding back.

The index has gained 19 percent since the end of 2002.

Market heavyweight Saudi Telecom registered a 0.9-percent drop, while Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC), the second largest listed company, rose by 1.6 percent, and Saudi Electricity Co. (SEC), the third biggest player, remained unchanged. All but one of the nine listed banks also increased.

Those nine banks, Saudi Telecom, SABIC and SEC together make up more than 85 percent of the total market value. Prices of 49 companies rose, 14 went down and one listed firm did not trade. Five issues did not change.

Trading value rose 21 percent to SR8.8 billion ($2.3 billion) from SR7.1 billion ($1.9 billion) last week.

The stock market in Saudi Arabia is the most heavily capitalized in the Arab world at more than $104 billion, but operates only on an interbank basis.

In the United Arab Emirates, the NBAD index closed Thursday at 3,583.93 points, up from 3,576.47 last week.

The MSM index in Oman closed at 211.465, up slightly from 210.29 one week earlier. In Bahrain, the BSE composite closed at 1,844.63, up from 1,822.15.

The ASE index in Amman in Jordan ended at 190.71 points, up from 186.67 points while in Lebanon, the Blom Stock Index (BSI) closed at 436.08 points, edging up from 434.47 points last Thursday.

In Egypt, the HFI index rose to 7,426.18 points, from 7,367.03 a week ago. In Tehran, the TEPIX index closed Wednesday at 5868.96 points, up sharply from 5698.35 last week.

However, the Qatari and Palestinian bourses posted declines for the second week in a row. In Qatar, the CBQ index dropped to 482.78 points from 494.31. In the Palestinian territories, the Al-Quds index closed at 179.94 points, against 198.03 points last week.

In Kuwait City, the KSE index ended at 3,441.8 points, down 34.9 points on the week.

The market shed 65.6 points alone on Sunday but rebounded throughout the rest of the week, though trading volumes were thin and market analysts continued to forecast a correction.

The US-led war in Iraq boosted the KSE, when traders anticipated a swift and decisive conflict and eyed the economic prospects of a northern neighbor free from Saddam Hussein’s regime.

The KSE is the second most heavily capitalized exchange in the Arab world after Saudi Arabia.