The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) gained 1.95 percent on weekly basis, closing at 6,174.74 points.

Investors appeared to be waiting for the release of the half-year earnings of the petrochemical sector, particularly the Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC), according to Abdullah Baeshn, chairman of the Riyadh-based TeamOne Financial Investments group.

He believed SABIC's second quarter results and Saudi Arabia's macroeconomic figures would give further momentum to stocks in the coming weeks.

On a week-to-week basis, the sector activity was mostly positive with 13 out 15 sectors closing with gains. On the other hand, the losses were seen in two sectors - Hotel & Tourism with -0.08 and Building and Construction with -0.71 percent - the Financial Transaction House (FTH) said in its weekly market commentary.

The top gainers for the week were Al-Ahlia Insurance Company with a gain of 10.13 percent to close at SR59.75 and The Saudi Chemical Co. with a gain of 10.04 percent to close for the week at SR44.90. The top losers for the week on the other hand were Saudi Ceramics Co. and Saudi Industrial Export Co. as their shares plunged 6.09 percent to SR131 and 5.62 percent to SR24.35 respectively.

The value of Saudi traded shares increased to SR15.16 billion last week compared to SR12.90 billion in the previous week.

According to NCB's Market Review & Outlook, the combined profitability of 22 reporting companies rose by around 32.5 percent to SR9.76 billion in the first-half of 2010. Out of the 22 firms, only 3 companies suffered losses totaling SR119 million. Improved selling prices and cost cutting have been noticed behind the better than expected earnings outcome, the NCB report said.

Arab stock markets closed last week higher, drawing momentum from semi-annual results and gains scored by global markets, financial analysts said Friday.

However, they believed regional markets will continue to be "psychologically linked" to world markets and prophecies of the global recovery, particularly the US and European economies.

"I think Arab markets will retain their psychological linkage with developments of the world economy, particularly in the United States and Europe," Wajdi Makhamreh, CEO of the Amman-based Noor Investments brokerage said.

"Therefore, I believe the worsening outlook of the US economy will have a negative impact on Arab markets, which are inclined to focus on what happens abroad rather than on fundamentals of listed firms," he said.

Makhamreh pointed out that last week's rebound could provide a chance for profit-taking and speculative tactics with investors having a close watch on outside developments.

He said that oil prices would be reckoned with as one of the key factors that decide the direction of regional markets.

Jordanian shares inched up last week due to what Makhamreh called as short-lived speculative activity.

The all-share price index of the Amman Stock Exchange gained 0.7 percent on weekly basis, closing at 2,357 points, according to the ASE weekly report.

Kuwait's KSE all-share index closed week 1.3 percent higher at 6,513 points.

Dubai's benchmark rose 1.4 percent, closing at 1,520 points, amid reports of a new round of talks between Dubai World and its debtors.

Abu Dhabi's all-share index closed week marginally lower at 2,523 points.

Egypt's AGX30, which measures performance of the market's 30 most active stocks, gained 0.4 percent last week, closing at 6,049 points after erasing most of the benefits accruing from the appointment of a new bourse chief, analysts said.

The GulfBase GCC Index increased by 1.41 percent to 3,619.36 points. The value of GCC traded shares surged by 8.62 percent to $4.87 billion but volume declined by 8.15 percent to 2.24 billion of shares.