The Moroccan bourse soared 5.6 percent, as the Lebanese and Egyptian markets slumped in a mixed week for Arab stocks, Bakheet Financial Advisors (BFA) reported Saturday, February 17. The CSE index in Morocco surged to 682.14 points, boosting gains over the past four weeks to 15.5 percent thanks to a series of government measures to revitalize the stock market, said the Riyadh-based investment specialists.
At the other end of the scale in BFA's weekly review of 12 Arab markets, Lebanon's BLOM index crashed 8.5 percent to 508.62 points as market leader Solidere plunged 18.5 percent due to expectations of poor financial results for 2000.
The Hermes Financial Index in Egypt, "in the absence of any positive factors," lost a hefty 4.2 percent to close on 7,164.66 points, BFA reported. The index collapsed 41 percent last year. Another big loser on the week, despite a democracy referendum which resulted in a landslide "yes", was the BSE in Bahrain, which stumbled 3.5 percent to close on 1,632.61 points, as blue chips slumped on lower than expected financial results.
Also in the Gulf, Qatar's CBQ slipped 0.8 percent to 204.36 points, while the NBAD index in the United Arab Emirates closed on 2,564.57 points, 0.5 percent weaker. The Emirati index, however, is still up seven percent on the year.
Saudi Arabia's NCFEI index, the highest capitalized in the Arab world, bucked a three-week losing trend to close 1.2 percent up, at 2,255.71 points, on the back of positive blue chip results for 2000. Amid investor optimism that a new cabinet would help usher in long-awaited economic reforms, the Kuwait Stock Exchange closed the week 0.6 percent up at 1,357.30 points.
Jordan's ASE index was up 0.3 percent, closing on 137.70 points, while the MSM index in Oman rose slightly to 196.79 points, up 0.2 percent, and the Palestinians' Jerusalem index went up 0.1 percent to close on 201.81 points. In North Africa, the Tunindex in Tunisia lost 1.3 percent, closing on 1,400.49 points, as blue chip prices slumped after sharp rises last year, BFA said. —(AFP)
© Agence France Presse 2000
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
