The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) gained 0.14 percent on a weekly basis, closing at 6,417.68 points.

"The market is currently focusing in the first place on the third quarter results and the dividends to be decided by the listed firms," Saudi analyst Mohammad Anqari said.

He said that investors' decisions would also be influenced by crude prices and the anti-inflation policies to be adopted by the country's monetary authorities, because they affect the lending strategy of local banks and, consequently, the volume of liquidity.

Anqari detected a diminishing effect on the Saudi market by developments at global markets.

On a week-to-week basis, the sector activity was negatively biased with 8 out of 15 sectors closing with losses ranging from 0.36 percent by the Transport sector to 1.93 percent by the Cement sector. On the other hand, the gaining sectors for the week ranged from 0.07 by the Insurance sector to 2.36 percent by the Telecommunication & Information Technology sector, the Financial Transaction House (FTH) said in its weekly market commentary.

The top gainers for the week were National Industrialization Co. with a gain of 6.93 percent to close at SR32.40 and The Saudia Dairy and Foodstuff Co. with a gain of 6.43 percent to close for the week at SR39.70. The top losers for the week, on the other hand, were Arabian Pipes Co. with a loss of 9.83 percent to close at SR25.70 and The Saudi Steel Pipes Co. losing 9.06 percent to close at SR22.10.

The stock market turnover was SR12.13 billion last week compared to SR11.8 billion in the previous week.

Other Arab stock markets extended gains last week as rising oil prices fueled optimistic expectations about third quarter results, financial analysts said Friday.

They contended that regional markets would continue to be affected by developments at world bourses, economic data in the United States and the outcome of the upcoming G7 meeting, but with a "diminishing pace".

"I believe the third quarter earnings and oil prices represent the crucial factors in deciding the direction of Middle East markets at this juncture," an Amman-based portfolio manager told Arab News.

"However, the performance at global markets and economic indicators in the United States and other major economies will continue to be reckoned with as important elements," he said.

Jordanian shares rallied in the first three days of the week but slipped later reportedly due to a decision by the management of the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) to place the assets of an Iraqi tycoon under custody to ensure repayment of debts, analysts said.

The ASE all-share price index gained 0.9 percent last week, closing at 2,327 points.

Kuwaiti stocks were steady last week, receiving support mainly from the banking sector and a multi-billion-dollar deal involving the sale of a 46 percent stake in Kuwait's Zain telecom group to Etisalat of the United Arab Emirates, analysts said.

Kuwait's KSE all-share index gained 0.14 percent on weekly basis, closing at 6,995 points.

Shares in the United Arab Emirates continued to rally last week mainly due to the pumping of fresh liquidity by foreign funds, according to Samer Jaouni, chairman of the Dubai-based Middle East Brokerage.

The benchmark of the Dubai stock exchange climbed 2.3 percent last week, to close at 1,723 points, while the all-share index of the Abu Dhabi bourse was up 0.45 percent, closing the week at 2,685 points.

Jaouni also attributed the strong performance of the UAE markets to the decline in debt costs of the Dubai government, the rise in the value of the country's sovereign bonds and the third quarter results.

Egyptian shares were the major gainer in the Middle East last week, led by Orascom Telecom, mainly due to intensive local and foreign buying, analysts said.

The AGX30 index, measuring the performance of the market's 30 most active stocks, gained 3.7 percent on a weekly basis, closing at 6,879 points.

The GulfBase GCC Index edged higher by 1.33 percent to 3,970.27 points last week. The value of GCC traded shares increased by 1.83 percent to $5.35 billion but volume fell by 2.49 percent to 3.19 billion of shares.

The GCC stock markets were very positive in September as all markets saw gains following a lackluster summer; the Dubai World debt resolution, positive ratings and increasing crude oil prices, the Kuwait Financial Center (Markaz) said in its monthly report.

MSCI GCC gained 6 percent for the month, propelling the YTD gain to just over 10 percent. Gains ranged from a low of 2 percent in Bahrain to a high of 13.5 percent in Dubai. Kuwait saw a gain of 6.92 percent for the month. Volume traded in the GCC was up 9 percent while value traded declined 10 percent for the month. The UAE saw the most activity; with volume and value traded increasing 71 percent and 82 percent, respectively, while Saudi Arabia saw liquidity decline 30 percent. Total value of GCC traded shares for the year stands at $229 billion, or 45 percent of the traded value in 2009, the Markaz report said.