14/05/2011
Saudi shares were volatile last week mainly due to fluctuations in oil prices
TASI up 6 percent closing at 6,722.38 points
Saudi shares were volatile last week mainly due to fluctuations in oil prices and the absence of fresh moving factors.
The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) gained 0.6 percent on weekly basis, to close at 6,722.38 points.
Saudi analysts expected the market to extend gains in the coming weeks toward the 7,000-point psychological barrier.
”I believe speculative trading will dominate the market in the coming couple of weeks until the emergence of information about the second quarter earnings,” Riyadh-based analyst Mohammad Anqari said.
”However, this speculative activity will not last for too long, as a profit-taking move is expected before the market resumes its upward thrust,” he added.
Anqari cited oil prices over 100 dollars a barrel, the huge public spending and the Saudi economy’s growth at a rate between 6 percent and 8 per-cent this year as factors that were set to boost stocks.
Arab bourses closed last week mixed as investors sought clues to the direction of markets pending information about the performance of businesses in the second quarter of the year, financial analysts said.
They expected speculative activity to dominate regional markets in the coming few weeks with focus on small caps, but said that oil prices over $100 a barrel would help boost stocks in the medium and long terms.
The GulfBase GCC index also rose 0.19 percent to 4,009.90 points last week.
The value of GCC traded shares surged 23.31 percent to $9.52 billion, while volume increased 17.04 percent to 3.88 billion of shares.
