Most Arab stock markets had a bad week, with the notable exception of the Jordanian bourse which gained 2.9 percent, Bakheet Financial Advisors (BFA) reported on Saturday, January 13.
The worst performer on the week was the Jerusalem index of the Palestinians that plunged 4.3 percent to close on 194.66 points due to heavy falls in the telecom and investment sectors, the Riyadh-based BFA said.
In contrast, Jordan's ASE index climbed 2.9 percent, closing on 139.64 points, propelled by a 5.4 percent surge in Arab Bank stocks on indications of strong earnings in 2000.
Out of 12 Arab markets in the weekly review, nine went down and only three bucked the trend.
The Saudi NCFEI all-shares index led the way in the Gulf with a modest 0.4 percent rise to 2,278.65 points, as investors awaited corporate financial results for last year and the impact on oil prices of OPEC's meeting next week in Vienna.
In the United Arab Emirates, the NBAD was up a slight 0.1 percent, closing on 2,410.88 points.
Morocco's CSE was among the heavy losers, sliding 3.1 percent to 622.81 points, while Lebanon's BLOM index dropped 2.0 percent to close close on 568.72 points as shares in the Beirut reconstruction venture Solidere plunged seven percent.
The Tunindex in Tunisia declined 1.3 percent to close the week on 1,411.16 points, and Bahrain's BSE index slipped 0.9 percent to 1,776.82 points.
In Egypt, the Hermes index lost 0.7 percent and closed on 7,524.17 points. After a two-percent gain the previous week, Oman's MSM index weakened 0.5 percent to 200.02 points. Also in the Gulf, the CBQ in Qatar and Kuwait's KSE index both lost 0.4 percent to close on 209.60 and 1,322.80 points respectively. —(AFP)
© Agence France Presse 2000
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
