JEDDAH: Gulf stock markets lost ground this week as investors sought clues to the second quarter earnings and other market moving factors, financial analysts said Friday. A spate of profit-taking and speculative trading put prices under pressure across the Middle East, as political turmoil continued to leave its negative impact on regional markets, they added. Saudi shares were volatile this week, mainly due to the lack of fresh incentives and profit taking tactics, analysts said. The Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) of the Arab world's largest stock exchange shed 0.5 per cent on weekly basis, closing at 6,686.14 points. Analysts attributed the thin trading to liquidity crunch and the absence of fresh moving factors. "The Saudi market witnessed weak trading this week, which is a normal situation at this juncture because investors prefer to stay on the sidelines pending data about the half-year results," Jeddah-based Saudi analyst Mazen Sofi said. He expected the activity at the Saudi stock market to pick up in July after the release of the second quarter earnings. Sofi also reported a strong activity in the Saudi real estate market which he expected to give momentum to Saudi stocks. Meanwhile, head of the Saudi Capital Market Authority (CMA), Abdul Rahman Tuweijri, announced this week that the Saudi financial authorities were mulling the permission of foreigners to trade Saudi stocks directly instead of the indirect method currently in force. He also disclosed that the CMA planned to adopt fresh regulatory measures that would seek to punish traders who violate the market's rules. Elsewhere n the region, Kuwait's KSE all-share index fell by 0.42 percent this week led by the banking sector, to close at 6,475 points. Analysts attributed the decline mainly to the delay in publishing the first quarter balance sheets by scores of firms. The benchmarks of the United Arab Emirates stock markets of Dubai and Abu Dhabi closed week 0.8 percent and 0.68 percent in the red, respectively at 1,583 points and 2,654 points. Qatar's all-share index shed 0.86 per cent on weekly basis, closing at 8,636 points. Bahrain's benchmark also fell by 0.75 percent this week, to close at 1,372 points. Egyptian stocks were the sole Middle East gainers this week as the bourse received positive repercussions from a tour of the Gulf states by chairman of the Egyptian stock exchange Mohammad Abdussalam. Egypt's AGX 30 index, which measures the performance of the market's 30 most active stocks, climbed 4.88 per cent this week to close at 5,249 points. Abdussalam told a press conference in Kuwait that he had found 'determination' on behalf of funds in Kuwait and other Gulf Cooperation Council member states to invest in Egyptian stocks. He indicated that he had succeeded in dissipating fears on behalf of investors in the GCC area that surfaced following the downfall of the former regime of President Hosni Mubarak.
