CAIRO, 28 November 2003 — Stock markets in the Arab world had a quiet week, with most of the region’s bourses closed since Tuesday due to the holidays of Eid Al-Fitr. Kuwaiti stocks continued their upward trend and closed Monday up 0.9 percent, making gains for a fifth consecutive week. The KSE index ended on 4,496.70 points, up 40.9 points on the previous week’s closing.
The trading week in the emirate was cut to three days, with the Kuwaiti bourse due to reopen Sunday.
Another strong performer, the TASI index in Saudi Arabia, which has the highest capitalized bourse in the region, stayed closed all week.
In Bahrain, the BSE closed on 2,293.28 points, slightly up on last week’s 2,289.94 points. The CBQ index in neighboring Qatar was up 0.4 percent at 732.39, compared to 729.10 the week before.
Oman’s MSM index was almost unchanged, closing on 270.05 points, while the NBAD index in the Emirates weakened slightly to close at 4,429.51 points, from the previous week’s 4,444.23 points.
Outside the Gulf, the CASE 30 index in Egypt was slightly down, slipping to 1.084.80 points, from 1,089.97 points on Nov. 20.
Jordan’s ASE and the Al-Quds index of the Palestinian territories both made gains this week, with the former rising to 249.31 points from the previous Thursday’s 246.48, and the latter closing at 173.81 points, up from 170.67.