RIYADH, 13 March 2004 — Optimism over first-quarter results and robust oil prices lifted Saudi stocks to a life peak in the week to Thursday in record trading volumes.

Traders said the largest Arab bourse could continue its long rally next week thanks to strong fundamentals.

The all-share index rose 1.3 percent to a record 4,916.06 points from 4,853.81 points. It is up 10.8 percent this year after climbing 76.5 percent in 2003 on healthy company earnings and firm oil prices, a boon for the economy of the world’s biggest crude exporter.

Turnover climbed to an all-time weekly high of SR26.4 billion ($7 billion) from SR24.5 billion the previous week.

“Al-Rajhi Banking and SAFCO were up 1.5 percent and 5.3 percent respectively as investors are optimistic over high profits for Q1 2004,” Bakheet Financial Advisors (BFA) said.

Al-Rajhi Banking and Investment Corp., the largest bank on the bourse, closed at SR960. It had posted 45 percent higher net profits of 2.0 billion riyals in 2003.

Saudi Arabian Fertilizer Co. ended at SR277.50. The blue chip had more than tripled its net profits to SR402.9 million in 2003.

Saudi Telecommunications Co. added 1.6 percent to SR473.

Traders said the market also received a boost from oil prices which have risen about $4 in the past month to their highest level since just before last year’s Iraq war.

Gainers outnumbered decliners 47 to 22 during the week, while the remaining two stocks were unchanged.

“BFA expects the market to continue its steady gains next week, driven by positive fundamentals, while investors await Q1 corporate results,” it said in a report.

In Egypt, the HFI index gained 2.5 percent to close the week at 13,610, driven by bullish economic prospects.

The Egyptian government on Wednesday reported higher income from tourism, Suez Canal transit fees and exports in 2003. It said these factors, along with a drop in imports, were behind the appreciation of the pound versus the US dollar on the black market.

The Lebanese stock market returned to profit after two consecutive weeks in the red. The BSI index gained 2.3 percent on the week, to close at 457.95.

Qatar’s CBQ index dropped two percent to close at 839, in the red for the second week in a row, and Jordan’ ASE index dipped 1.4 percent to close at 2,768.92.

Iran’s TEPIX index was up 0.8 percent, closing at 11,185.16, while the United Arab Emirates’ NBQD index dipped 0.5 percent to 4,800.66.

Both Oman’s MSM and Bahrain’s BSE indices closed down 0.4 percent on the week to 294.42 and 2,297.55 respectively. The KSE index of Kuwait, the second largest Arab stock market, closed at 5,138, almost unchanged on the week.

The Al-Quds index of the Palestinian stock market closed the week up 0.8 percent at 185.83.