JEDDAH/AMMAN: Saudi shares were volatile last week with investors responding clearly to the retreat on world markets that analysts attributed to the negative news regarding the debt dilemma in euro countries, particularly Greece, Spain and Portugal and the disappointing unemployment report released in the United States.
The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) shed 0.89 percent last week, closing at 6,225.48 points. TASI is currently 1.7 percent higher than the year’s start.
The Riyadh-based Bakheet Investment Group’s (BIG) weekly report partly attributed the weakness of the Saudi market last week to the decline of the petrochemical sector in response to falling oil prices.
The BIG expected volatility to dominate the Saudi stock exchange this week “as a result of the negative global economic events” which cast doubt on the recovery process.
The Jeddah-based Financial Transaction House (FTH) said last week there was a negative divergence between the five and 20 simple moving averages, which signal overall weakness in the market. Furthermore, on a weekly basis, the market was unable to close above either average, after only managing to close slightly above the 5-day moving average on a daily basis on Wednesday, the Jeddah-based Financial Transaction House (FTH) said in its weekly market commentary.
Nonetheless, on a positive note, OPEC has announced that forecasted demand for crude oil has risen. Although the effect on crude oil prices has not yet been noted, this will surely play a role in determining the next leg of the market, the FTH report said.
The value of Saudi traded shares reached SR13.5 billion, up against previous week’s SR12.9 billion. Alinma Bank dominated trading value at 13 percent followed by SABIC (Saudi Basic Industries Corp.) at 7 percent and Kingdom Holding Co. at 5 percent, the BIG report said.
Gulf General Cooperative Insurance Co., which started trading on Monday, was the top gainer last week as its shares jumped 160 percent to SR26. Jabal Omar Development Co. shares increased by 11.84 percent to SR21.25.
Shares in Saudi Arabian Cooperative Insurance Co. dropped 11.19 percent last week to close at SR63.50. The other major losers were Abdullah Al-Othaim Markets Co. (7.24 percent), Saudi Indian Company for Cooperative Insurance (7.02 percent), and Food Products Co. (6.39 percent).
Arab stock markets closed last week mixed due to global market slump, ambiguity over world recovery and falling oil prices, financial analysts said Friday.
“We observe that regional markets are once again coming under clear psychological pressure from what is happening at global bourses and the uncertain predictions about the performance of the US and other key economies of the world,” an Amman-based portfolio manager said.
“We think that Arab markets, particularly in the Gulf area, will continue to keep a close eye on crude prices and the 2009 results of listed firms,” he said.
He also predicted that geopolitics, particularly the mounting tension over the Iranian nuclear program and the Iraqi elections, would have an impact on regional markets in the coming weeks.
The Amman Stock Exchange was also the scene for narrow fluctuations last week as investors struggled to surmount a chronic liquidity shortage and restore confidence to the Jordanian stock exchange, analysts said.
The ASE all-share index gained 0.23 percent to close at 2,513 points, according to the market’s weekly report.
Kuwait’s KSE all-share index was up 1.6 percent, closing week at 7,177 points with the market receiving support from the services and real estate sectors, analysts said.
The United Arab Emirates shares drew support last week from the banking and real estate sectors.
The benchmark of the Dubai exchange edged higher to close at 1,1676 points from 1,663 points last week.
Abu Dhabi’s all-share index gained 1.4 percent, closing week at 2,744 points.
Egypt’s AGX30 index, measuring the performance of the market’s 30 most active stocks, declined 0.7 percent, closing week at 6,934 points.
The GulBase GCC Index edged higher by 1.15 percent to 3,747.18 points. The value of GCC traded shares surged 10.20 percent to $5.95 billion and volume increased by 6.82 percent to 4.31 billion of shares.
