RIYADH, 2 April 2004 — Saudi Arabia’s official share index rose 2.8 percent in the week to Thursday, hitting a fresh record as blue-chip industrial, banking and telecoms stocks surged higher on continued optimism over forthcoming results.
The index of the largest Arab bourse closed at 5,232.98 points, up 17.9 percent this year after 2003’s 76 percent rise.
“The soon-to-be-published corporate financial results for Q1 2004 during the next few days will be the main driving engine for the market trend, while selling pressure will continue pressing the speculative stocks down,” Bakheet Financial Advisors said in a report.
In the week, gains by market giants Saudi Basic Industries Corp., Saudi Telecom Co. and Al-Rahji Banking and Investment Corp. masked falls in farming stocks and some cement producers.
Weekly turnover hit SR28.3 billion ($7.6 billion), just short of the record SR28.4 billion two weeks ago. Advancing shares outnumbered declining stocks by 45 to 24, with two ending the week unchanged.
Meanwhile, Gulf stock markets rallied this week as the OPEC oil group confirmed a crude oil production cut which is likely to keep oil prices firm.
Qatar’s CBQ index closed at 978.17 points, up eight percent on the week. On Wednesday alone, the index gained 25 points, with high demand on Qatar Commercial Bank and Qatar Insurance Company.
Qatari shares have gained more than 35 percent since year start, the best performance in the Gulf, followed by Saudi shares with gains of 17 percent.
Tehran’s TEPIX index closed at 11,745.1 points, up 3.2 percent on the week.
The United Arab Emirates’ NBAD index closed at 4,798.83 points, up two percent from the previous week.
Kuwait’s KSE index finished the week at 4,947.60 points, down 0.8 percent on the week. Bahrain’s BSE index closed the week at 2,321.29 points, Egypt’s HFI index at 13,962 points, Lebanon’s BSI index at 476.66 points, the MSM in Oman at 296.24 points and the Palestinians’ Al-Quds index at 183.94 points.