JEDDAH/AMMAN, 7 June 2008 — Saudi shares were steady last week after a series of declines that were prompted by retreating confidence over the past weeks.

The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) gained 1.79 percent last week, closing at 9,661.48 points from 9,491.31 points in the previous week. TASI is currently 12.5 percent lower than the year’s start.

The weekly report of the Riyadh-based Bakheet Investment Group (BIG) expected investors’ attention to “turn now to the semi-annual financial results of firms, particularly blue chips, the prices which have declined to buy-opportunity levels.” The market is now “poised for a new clearer era, during which stocks will live up to the positive macroeconomic developments” of Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude exporter, the BIG said.

Shares of Alinma Bank, which ended 60 percent higher than its initial public offering (IPO) price on their Saudi stock market debut on Tuesday, continued to surge and the bank was top gainer last week. Its shares closed 75 percent higher at SR17.50. Over SR12 billion worth of Alinma Bank shares changed hands last week.

The Saudi stock market turnover crossed SR45 billion mark last week.

Malath Cooperative Insurance and Reinsurance Co. was the top loser last week as its shares plunged 15.53 percent to SR65.25.

Arab stock markets are expected to move sideways in the coming few weeks as investors look for any clues to half-year results, financial analysts said yesterday. “We expect attention of traders to focus in the coming weeks on the performance of listed firms in the second quarter of the year,” an Amman-based portfolio manager told Arab News. “Therefore, we think speculation and hit-and-run tactics will prevail at regional bourses until the end of June,” he said.

However, the analyst pointed out that Middle East stock markets “stood to benefit” from adamantly soaring oil prices, which indicated that huge surplus petrodollars would accrue to Arab oil-producing countries.

Jordanian shares extended gains last week, buoyed by strategic stocks, particularly the Arab Potash Co. and the Jordan Phosphate Mines Co. The all-share price index of the Amman Stock Exchange climbed 5.91 percent last week, closing at 9,850.71 points from 9,301 points previous week, according to the ASE weekly report. “The large trading volume indicates the presence of strong demand, particularly from foreigners and Gulf investors, for Jordanian stocks particularly blue chip shares,” a Jordanian analyst said.

Kuwaiti shares gained 1.3 percent last week, closing at 15,214 points compared with previous week’s close at 15,014 points. The benchmark of the United Arab Emirates stock exchanges of Dubai and Abu Dhabi went up 2.1 percent this week, closing at 6,338 points from 6,205 points last week. The UAE all-share price index gained 5.3 percent since the beginning of the year, financial analysts said.

The GulfBase GCC Index closed 2.66 percent higher last week at 7,052.61 points. The value of GCC traded shares increased 19.76 percent to $22.91 billion and volume surged 15.69 percent to 8.29 billion of shares.

BMG Saudi Index Maintains Uptrend

The BMG Saudi Index continued to go up for the second week in a row, registering a 2.7 percent increase to 530.3 points. The market turnover, also witnessed an increase by 13.9 percent to SR17.8 billion ($4.8 billion), compared to SR15.6 billion ($4.2 billion), registered in the previous week. Over 462 million shares were traded last week, compared to 389 million shares in the previous week, reflecting an 18.9 percent increase. The average price-earnings (P/E) ratio for 2007 earnings was 32.34 times, whereas the price-to-book (P/B) ratio was 4.95 times.

Two sectors went down throughout the past week, and four appreciated, whereas one stood still. The banking sector witnessed no change for the second week in a row. The agricultural, industrial, services, and telecommunications sectors advanced by 4.9 percent, 3.8 percent, 3.5 percent and 3.0 percent, respectively. On the other hand, the electricity and insurance sectors declined by 1.9 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively.

Twenty-four stocks appreciated week-on-week, whilst only two shares depreciated.