They believed that the Greek parliament’s approval of the austerity plan, the global market gains and rising oil prices would reflect positively on regional bourses particularly in the Gulf region.
”I believe Gulf markets in particular will benefit from the receding Greek debt crisis and the rebound of Wall Street and other global markets,” Nizar Taher, chief of brokerage at the Jordan Ahli Bank, told Arab News.
”We think that investors will focus in the coming couple of weeks on the semi-annual results of listed firms, particularly blue chips to decide their next positions,” he said.
Saudi and Qatari stocks were the sole gainers in the Middle East last week, while the rest of Arab stock markets lost fresh ground.
Saudi shares received momentum from the sectors of petrochemicals, industrial investment, construction and retail trade, analysts said.
The Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) of the Arab world’s largest stock exchange gained 1.96 percent on weekly basis, closing at 6,576 points.
Last week’s gains of 3.35 percent by the petrochemical sector sends a ”positive” message to the market and signals the benchmark crossing of the 6,600- point level, Riyadh-based Saudi analyst Turki Fadaak said.
He attributed last week’s gains by the petrochemical sector to leaks that the petrochemical firms, particularly the Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC), would unveil a tangible rise in their profits for the first half of the year.
Fadaak, director of consultancy at Al-Bilad Investments, also predicted that the Greek parliament’s approval of the austerity plan would have a positive impact on the Saudi market.
Jordanian shares deepened losses last week due to persistent shortage of liquidity, Taher said.
The all-share index of the Amman Stock Exchange shed 1.39 percent, closing at 2,093 points.
Kuwaiti stocks closed in the red last week due to profit taking moves and uncertainty of the political situation in the country, analysts said.
Kuwait’s KSE all-share index shed 0.83 percent on weekly basis, to close at 6,212 points.
The United Arab Emirates stock exchanges of Dubai and Abu Dhabi also fell 1.34 percent and 0.46 percent to close week respectively at 1,517 points and 2,704 points.
Qatar’s benchmark gained 1.79 percent last week, closing at 8,361 points while Bahrain’s all-share index declined 1.41 percent, closing at 1,320 points.
Egypt’s AGX 30 index, which measures the performance of the market’s 30 most active stocks, plummeted 1.9 percent last week, closing at 5,373 points.
Analysts attributed the decline to a sell-off by foreigners following clashes in Cairo in the middle of the week that harmed at least 1,000 people.
