They believed Arab bourses would come under fresh pressure this week due to the persistent world fears of prolonged recession, Thursday’s dramatic sell-off at the Wall Street and European stock markets and the sharp fall in oil prices.”I think the negative developments at the Wall Street and other global markets will put additional psychological pressure as of Saturday on regional markets, particularly in the Gulf region,” Wajdi Makhamereh, CEO of the Amman-based Noor Investments brokerage, told Arab News.Global stocks sank for an eighth straight session on Friday, a day after US stocks suffered their worst sell-off in two years.”Arab markets will also await the outcome of the crisis talks on Friday grouping leaders of Germany, France and Spain in a bid to resolve the ballooning euro debt ordeal,” Makhamreh said.He viewed the deal between Republicans and Democrats on raising the US debt ceiling as a temporary solution. ”If more solid solutions are not found in six months, the rating of US banks could be lowered with negative fallout on member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCE),” he said.Makhamreh expected the petrochemical industry in Saudi Arabia and other GCC states to come under fresh pressure as a result of a 10 percent decline in crude prices last week due to global growth fears.Saudi shares were volatile last week as investors preferred to remain on the sidelines pending new moving factors and clearing the ambiguity surrounding global markets.The Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) shed 0.33 percent on weekly basis, closing at 6,423.87 points.”This is a clear area where investors can move safely with minimum speculative trading, given the second quarter results and the ongoing global economy concerns,” Saudi analyst Mohammad Anqari said.He expected the index to test resistance points between 6,400 points and 6,600 points and support levels less than 6,400 points in the coming weeks ”with the market trying to absorb any bad news coming from outside the country”.Kuwaiti shares scored modest gains in the first week of August led by the banking sector.Kuwait’s KSE all-share index gained 0.5 percent on weekly basis, closing at 6,066 points.However, the Wodouh Investment Company said in its weekly report that the Kuwaiti bourse was in ”bad need for liquidity and the leading role of institutional investors to direct the market away from speculative operations”.Local press also talked about plans by the market’s management to stop trading of Kuwaiti firms that so far lost 75 percent of their capital.United Arab Emirates stocks gained last week, led by the industrial and real estate sectors.The benchmarks of the Dubai and Abu Dhabi stock exchanges rose by 2.33 percent and 1.63, to close week respectively at 1,541 points and 2,671 points.Qatar’s index gained 1.36 percent on weekly basis, closing at 8,491 points.Bahrain’s benchmark shed 1.34 percent, to close week at 1,281 points.The all-share index of the Amman Stock Exchange lost further 0.59 percent last week due to persistent liquidity crunch, to close at 2,076 points.Egypt’s AGX 30 index, which measures the performance of the market’s most active stocks, shed 0.3 percent on weekly basis, to close at 5,007 points.The benchmark fell below the 5,000 points on Tuesday and Wednesday.But the market rebounded strongly on Thursday after traders became convinced that the former dictator would be seriously tried and the popular agitation could subside accordingly, analysts said.