CAIRO, 30 May 2003 — The Saudi and Kuwaiti stock markets rose six percent and five percent, respectively, in the past week, leading bull markets across the Middle East.
Saudi shares rose six percent to close the week yesterday at a record high on the back of high liquidity and increased investor confidence, traders said.
The Tadawul All-Shares Index (TASI) rallied midweek to finish at 3,243.88 points, compared to last week closing of 3,058.00 points. The TASI is 28.8 percent higher than at the start of 2003. The index has been rising steadily since the start of the US-led war against Iraq on March 20, increasing 28.1 percent since then.
Saudi Arabia has the largest capitalized stock market in the Arab world with more than $114 billion, but operates only on interbank basis.
The Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE), the second largest in the Arab world, gained five percent in the week ending Wednesday, setting a new record on the back of unprecedented cash flow and anticipated positive second quarter results, economists said.
Despite predictions of a market correction, the index climbed consistently through the week to end on 3,677.2 points, a new all-time high. The index is up 182.5 points on the week and 54.8 percent on the year.
Defying fears of the fallout from the US-led war in Iraq, the market in April broke the all-time high of 2,823.4 points reached on Nov. 1, 1997, and has been rising ever since.
Elsewhere in the Gulf, Oman’s MSM index also increased, ending the week on 227.878 points, compared to 222.36 points last week.
In Qatar, the CBQ index closed on 501.89 points, up from 489.32 points last week, while the NBAD index in the United Arab Emirates also rose to 3,583.80 points, up from 3,560.85 points last week.
Similarly, the BSE index in Bahrain closed on 1,867.22 points, up from 1,842 last week. In Jordan, the ASE index rose slightly, ending on 190.51 points compared to 189.12 points last week.
The Egyptian stock market continued to climb, with the HFI index closing on 8,126.34 points, compared to 8,032.36 points last week. In Lebanon, the BLOM index closed yesterday on 458.92 points, up from 443.48 points last week.
Finally, in Tehran, the TEPIX index closed Wednesday on 6,207.42, a surge of 259.12 points over the 5948.12 points registered last week.
The TSE-50 of 50 bluechip stocks also climbed from 356.11 points last week to 377.78 points this week.