JEDDAH/AMMAN: The Saudi stock market last week trimmed its losses incurred over the past weeks mainly in response to remarks by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah that the Saudi economy was still “strong” and that there was nothing to worry about.

The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) gained 5.21 percent last week, closing at 4,654.88 points. The TASI is currently 57.83 percent lower than the year’s start.

The rise in index was led by the petrochemical and banking sectors.

In an interview with the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Seyassah last week, King Abdullah allayed the fears of the Saudi people in particular and of Gulf citizens in general that they would be affected by the current global economic crisis.

Investors are anxiously waiting for the yearly financial statements of banks and financial services and of petrochemical companies to assess the actual effect of the global financial crisis on them, the Riyadh-based Bakheet Investment Group (BIG) said in its weekly report.

“As the Eid Al-Adha holidays are upon us this week, and trading will halt in the Saudi stock exchange, we expect that investors will take time to thoroughly study their investment strategy and position, specially that the market seems to stabilize, where it is witnessing a lower correlation with international markets, which will help investors to clearly see the true condition of market,” the BIG said.

The top gainers last week were Saudi Arabia Refineries Co. (up 38.89%), Saudi Hollandi Bank (23.29%), Dar Al-Arkan (21.09%), Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (18.33%) and Saudi Cable Company (17.43%).

Saudi Automotive Services Co. (SASCO) shares plunged by 11.25 percent last week, followed by Saudi Indian Company for Cooperative Insurance, down 10.64 percent, and Arabian Shield Cooperative Insurance Co. by 9.01 percent.

Al-Rajhi Bank shares surged 5.56 percent to SR57 last week. Alinma Bank was more active by value as shares worth SR6.22 billion changed hands last week. Its shares, however, fell 1.33 percent to SR11.15.

The stock market turnover also increased to SR30.25 billion last week compared to SR27 billion in the previous week.

Arab stock markets closed week on a stable course ahead of a weeklong holiday, financial analysts said yesterday.

“Regional markets closed week relatively stable and we are optimistic that this pattern will persist after the Eid Al-Adha feast,” Nizar Taher, chief of brokerage at the Jordan Ahli Bank, said. “We hope that the concerted interest rate cuts across the world will help to calm down the turmoil that gripped global markets over past weeks and consequently have a positive impact on Arab bourses,” he said.

Jordanian shares rebounded last week after plummeting for three consecutive weeks and Taher attributed last week’s gains to “buying by foreigners,” who sought to make benefit from the exceptionally low prices of stocks.

The all-share price index of the Amman Stock Exchange climbed 5.19 percent last week, closing at 2,7985 points, according to the ASE weekly report.

Kuwaiti stocks also rebounded last week, buoyed by reports that the state-owned Kuwait Investment Corporation (KIC) planned to enter the market after Eid Al-Adha holiday with a budget of about $20 billion. “We believe the holiday and the KIC intervention will prop up the market after the Eid Al-Adha feast,” said Maitham Al-Shakhs, an analyst at the Kuwait-based Global Investment House.

Egypt’s CASE-30 index, measuring the performance of the market’s 30 most active stocks, closed week higher at 4,059 points compared with last week’s close at 4,044 points.

The GulfBase GCC Index increased 3.74 percent last week to 3,495.70 points. The value of GCC traded shares also surged 10.91 percent to $11.59 billion but volume of traded shares declined 6.53 percent to 4.52 billion of shares.

— With input from Abdul Jalil Mustafa