The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) shed 1.15 percent last
week, closing at 6,230.15 points.
"I believe that global markets have left a negative,
but unjustified, impact on the Saudi market," the Jeddah-based Saudi
analyst Khalid Harethi said.
"Apparently, after the release of quarterly earnings,
regional markets started to link up again with world bourses," he added.
Harethi described this week's performance of Saudi stocks as
"disappointing", given the good quarterly results of the
petrochemical, energy and telecom sectors.
On a week-to-week basis, the sector activity was negatively
biased with 12 out of 15 sectors closing with losses ranging from 0.49 percent
by the Banks & Financial Services sector to 7.86 percent by Building &
Construction sector. On the other hand the gaining sectors for the week ranged
from 0.64 percent by Telecommunication & Information Technology sector to
1.10 percent by Insurance sector, the Financial Transaction House (FTH) said in
its weekly market commentary.
The insurance companies were top gainers last week. Shares
in BUPA Arabia for Cooperative Insurance Co. and The Saudi Arabian Cooperative
Insurance Co. gained 11.30 percent to SR22.65 and 4.63 percent to SR31.60
respectfully. The top losers for the week on the other hand were Zamil
Industrial Investment Co. with a loss of 15.27 percent to close at SR38.30 and
The National Metal Manufacturing & Casting Co. losing 13.07 percent to
close at SR18.30.
SABIC shares surged 1.11 percent last week to SR90.75 as it
announced a 46 percent increase in third quarter net profits to SR5.35 billion
over SR3.65 billion in 2009.
Saudi Telecom Co. (STC) shares edged higher by 3.40 percent
to SR39.50 as it announced a 38 percent rise in third quarter net profit last
week.
The Saudi stock market turnover fell to SR13.28 billion last
week compared to SR14.36 billion in the previous week.
Arab stock markets reflected sluggish performance for the
second week in a row, as investors returned to focus on the behavior of global
markets after the release of third quarter earnings, financial analysts said
Friday.
The retreat of oil prices in response to receding
expectations of world recovery also helped to put downward pressure on regional
stocks, they added.
"I believe Arab stock markets are linking up again with
Wall Street and other leading world markets as investors turn their attention
away from third quarter results," Wajdi Makhamreh, CEO of the Amman-based
Noor Investments brokerage, told Arab News.
"I think regional markets are currently in a state of
caution, with speculation and short-term moves dominating the scene pending the
emergence of fresh moving factors," he said.
Jordanian stocks were volatile last week due to a continuing
liquidity crunch and the delay in releasing third quarter results of several
firms, analysts said.
The all-share index of the Amman Stock Exchange lost 0.17
percent on weekly basis, closing at 2,324 points, according to the ASE weekly
report.
Kuwaiti shares closed in the red for the third consecutive
week with banking and investment sectors leading the decline.
Kuwait's KSE all-share index lost 0.94 percent last week,
crashing the 7,000-point psychological barrier and closing at 6,944 points.
United Arab Emirates stocks were mixed last week. The
all-share index of the Dubai exchange shed 0.16 percent, to close at 1,744
points, while the Abu Dhabi benchmark was the main gainer in the Middle East,
going up 1.77 percent and closing at 2,807 points.
Egypt's AGX30 index, measuring the performance of the
market's 30 most active stocks, slid 1.06 percent, closing at 6,807 points.
The GulfBase GCC Index fell 0.30 percent to 3,933.15 points.
The value of GCC traded shares dropped 14.36 percent to $5.29 billion and
volume plunged 26.64 percent to 3.11 billion of shares.
