They also attributed the decline to growing security concerns in the region with tension escalating between Lebanon's Hezbollah and Israel and demonstrations sweeping several Arab states.
“Regional markets are coming under increasing psychological pressures from the prolonged closure of the Egyptian bourse and demonstrations that gather momentum throughout the Arab world,” Wajdi Makhamreh, CEO of the Amman-based Noor Investments Brokerage, told Arab News. “I believe the slippage of Arab stock markets, particularly in the Gulf area, is prompted by fears on the part of firms that have projects in Egypt,” he said.
“Regional investors resort to selling to avoid losses because they believe Egyptian stocks would plummet when the bourse re-opens, sending a negative signal to all markets in the region,” he added.
However, Makhamreh said that rising oil prices would help prop up markets in the medium and long terms.
Saudi shares in particular suffered from the fallout of the Egyptian uprising, with the decline led by the banking, petrochemical and telecom sectors.
The Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) shed 1.89 percent on weekly basis, to close at 6,486.60 points.
“Undoubtedly, financial markets are coming under pressure from situations where concerns of security nature arise,” said Abdullah Baeshen, chairman of the Riyadh-based TeamOne financial consultancy firm. “Scared investors apparently resort to sell-off at this juncture and prefer liquid assets because they don't know what happens next,” he added.
Jordanian shares were the main losers in the area last week mainly due to decisions by the Amman Stock Exchange management to put assets of key investors under custody to ensure repayment of loans, Makhamreh said. The ASE all-share index plunged 3.4 percent last week, closing at 2,285, with blue chips taking the lead.
Kuwait's KSE all-share index lost 2.6 percent last week, closing at 6,559 points. The decline was led by the investment, industrial and banking sectors, analysts said.
The benchmarks of the United Arab Emirates stock exchanges of Dubai and Abu Dhabi shed 0.2 percent and 0.9 percent, closing respectively at 1,595 points and 2,683 points. The all-share index of Qatar lost 2.76 percent on a weekly basis to close at 8,703 points.
World stocks came off early highs and oil retreated on Friday after China raised bank required reserves to a record, prompting worries that tightening efforts aimed at battling inflation could slow down global growth and curb demand for commodities.
US stocks opened little changed after recent advances pushed indexes to more than 30-month highs and as Wall Street eyed a third week of gains.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 15.63 points, or 0.12 percent, at 12,333.05. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dipped 0.11 points, or 0.01 percent, at 1,340.30. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 1.71 points, or 0.07 percent, at 2,833.34.
The MSCI all-country world stock index was 0.2 percent higher after earlier hitting a fresh 30-month high. China raised banks' required reserves by 50 basis points on Friday, the second such increase this year as it continues the fight against inflation.
