AMMAN, 6 November 2004 — Middle East stock markets are expected to be “steady” in the coming week ahead of a four-day holiday marking Eid Al-Fitr feast, financial analysts said yesterday.
However, they told Arab News they believed the re-election of the US President George W. Bush would have “no impact” on Arab bourses, but the possible disappearance of the Palestinian President Yasser Arafat from the political scene could have a positive effect.
“I believe regional shares will be steady in the coming week ahead of Eid Al-Fitr feast, as many investors prefer to stay on the sidelines in the last days of Ramadan,” said Saqr Abdul Fattah, investment manager at the Housing Bank for Trade and Finance.
“However, I think stock markets will resume their upward trend after the holiday with periodical profit-taking and correction intervals,” he added.
Abdul Fattah said that he saw “no impact for Bush’s victory on the economic situation in the Middle East”. “Consequently, I don’t think regional stock markets will react to his re-election,” he added.
As for Arafat’s deteriorating health, he said the Palestinian chieftain’s disappearance from the political scene “could be interpreted by investors as a positive development because it may facilitate reaching a settlement to the conflict in accordance with the US vision”.
The all-share price index of the Amman Stock Exchange jumped 7.3 percent in the trading week ending Thursday, to close at an all-time high of 3,643 points compared with last week’s close at 3,395 points, according to ASE weekly report.
The bullish trend also persisted this week at the Saudi stock exchange, the Arab world’s largest bourse. The SSE’s all-share price index gained 3.5 percent, closing at a new high of 7,463,97 points after crashing the psychological barrier of 7,400 points.
In Kuwait, the KSE index gained 0.6 percent in the week ending Thursday to close at 6,161 points, up from 6,126 in the previous week.
Egyptian stocks rebounded this week, led by the banking sector, following the deep correction it witnessed last week.
The Hermes index upped 2.16 percent, closing on Thursday at 21,733 points, compared with 21,272 points last week.
