JEDDAH, 30 April 2005 — The Saudi stock market showed volatility this week reflecting fluctuation of oil prices on the world market. The market was down 96.65 points or 0.83 percent on Thursday as prices of most shares except banks declined when the Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) closed at 11,543.90 points, around four percent off its all-time high of two weeks ago but still up 40 percent since the start of the year.

The Riyadh-based Bakheet Financial Advisors (BFA) considered oil prices the dominant factor in the market in the coming weeks following the announcement of Q1 results by listed firms.

Some 22.9 million shares were exchanged on the bourse in over 50,000 deals valued at SR5.2 billion. The market also witnessed the highest fluctuation as the indicator dropped from 11,642.36 to 11,436.23 points.

Of the shares of 73 companies traded on the market on Thursday, prices of 19 companies went up while 48 went down. Prices of six companies remained unchanged.

The Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC), which accounts for 40 percent of the total market capitalization, shed 2.5 percent this week due to the decline of oil prices, while Saudi Telecom Co. (STC) rose following its signing of a contract with Mobily, a mobile service provider, to provide it with infrastructural services for three years.

The banking index rose by 0.65 percent or 180.69 points as the market saw exchange of 810,000 shares in 3,103 deals worth SR687 million. Prices of all banks soared without exception. The indicator of industries declined by 551.50 points or 1.88 percent as it closed at 28,840.15 points.

Of the 26 industrial firms on the bourse, only three had their prices gone up while the prices of 20 went down and three remained unchanged.

Kuwaiti shares surged three percent in the week, as market capitalization crossed the $100-billion mark for the first time. The rise came on the back of investor confidence boosted by strong first quarter results and abundant liquidity, traders said. Market capitalization ended the trading week at $103 billion.

The Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) index finished the week at 8,692.70 points, a new all-time high, up 229.6 points on last week’s close. The index has been rising for the past 10 weeks and is now 35.6 percent above the 2004 close of 6,409.50 points.

Average daily trading this week rose by 8.6 percent to 152 million dinars ($520 million) from last week’s 140 million dinars ($475 million). Last year’s daily average was $208.8 million. The market lists 134 Kuwaiti and foreign firms.

The United Arab Emirates stock markets also scored strong gains this week rising by 11.4 percent on average, buoyed by Q1 results of listed firms. The price index of Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange climbed 13.4 percent while the Dubai bourse’s benchmark price gained 7.4 percent, dealers said.

Howerver, Qatari stocks dropped 8.3 percent in the week to Thursday as investors cashed in on gains following strong first-quarter earnings, analysts said.

The Doha Securities Market index .QSI closed at 9,388 points, down from 10,244 a week ago. It is up 44 percent so far this year on high oil and gas prices which fueled strong economic growth in the energy-rich Gulf Arab state.

Weekly turnover fell 21 percent to 1.5 billion riyals ($413 million) while market capitalization slipped 9 percent to 284 billion riyals from the previous week.

Jordanian shares surged for the fourth week in a row led by blue chips, particularly the heavyweight Arab Bank and Jordan Telecom, which reported 57 percent and 12 percent increases in their Q1 profits respectively.

The Amman Stock Exchange’s all-share price index climbed 5.88 percent in the week ending on Thursday, to close at 6,813 points, despite a deep correction on Monday that pushed down the benchmark price by 3.6 percent. Turnover also almost doubled throughout the week.

“The outlook is extremely positive in the light of strong Q1 results announced by listed firms and the existence of abundant liquidity seeking investment in stocks,” Wajdi Makhamreh, invesment manager and head of brokerage at the Jordan Investment & Finance Bank, told Arab News.

“We believe the upward trend will continue at Arab bourses in the coming couple of weeks with limited corrections taking place at times,” he said.

— With input from Abdul Jalil Mustafa