Most Gulf stock markets on Thursday ended 2009 higher following massive losses in the previous year because of the global economic downturn, but their rebound was halted by the Dubai debt crisis. After slumping to a year low in the first three months, five of the seven markets made a strong comeback in the third quarter that continued into the fourth with the Saudi, Dubai and Abu Dhabi bourses each adding more than 30 percent. Barring Kuwait and Bahrain, the remaining five bourses ended the year in positive territory, led by Saudi Arabia which gained 27.5 percent. Capitalizing on a high oil price and signs of global recovery, most of the bourses in the energy-rich region reached their highest point of the year in October, after which they started to decline on news of Dubai debt woes and profit-taking sales. The seven bourses added around $80 billion to their capitalization which ended the year at $680 billion from $600 billion at the end of 2008. That is still far below their end-2007 value of $1.116 trillion dolars, however. The Saudi Tadawul All-Shares Index (TASI), the most capitalized Arab bourse, ended the year 27.5 percent higher at 6,121.76 points after slumping 56.5 percent in 2008. The market-leading petrochemicals industries sector, which includes petrochemicals giant SABIC, surged an impressive 70.2 percent, while banks, the second largest sector, rose 15.3 percent. TASI hit its year's high of 6,548.47 points in late October after plunging to its lowest point of the year at 4,130.01 points in early March. The Saudi market was the least affected by the Dubai crisis after state-owned Dubai World requested a standstill on repayment of billions of dollars in debt. The two United Arab Emirates bourses of Dubai and Abu Dhabi made modest increases in 2009 after shedding most of their gains in the last six weeks of the year on Dubai debt woes. The Dubai Financial Market closed the year 10.3 percent higher at 1,803.58 points after rising by more than 46 percent up to mid October. The market dropped massively when Dubai World sought to delay repayment of its debt. In 2008, the Dubai bourse was the biggest loser in the Gulf, falling 72.4 percent. The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange added 14.8 percent to close the year at 2,743.61 points after shedding 47.5 percent in the previous year. Before Dubai's credit problems, Abu Dhabi bourse had increased 33 percent. The Qatar Securities Market - the least affected in the Gulf last year with a drop of just 28.1 percent - increased a modest 1.06 percent to close 2009 at 6,959.17 points. But at the end of the year, the Doha bourse capitalization of $88 billion surpassed both Dubai and Abu Dhabi to become the third largest stock market in the Gulf. The Bahrain Stock Exchange was the biggest loser, shedding 19.2 percent to close 2009 at 1,458.24 points, after slumping 34.5 percent in the previous year. The Muscat Securities Market rose 17.00 percent to close the year at 6,368.80 points. In 2008, it dipped 39.8 percent. Kuwait index slipped below the 7000 point mark as investors exited positions amid bearish sentiments. The market dropped 30.2 points, extending the losses to third straight session amid a slight rise in volume turnover. Kuwait Stock Exchange, the second largest Arab bourse, ended the year 10 percent lower at 7,005.30 points after slumping 38 percent in 2008. The Kuwaiti bourse has been severely impacted by political instability and the debt problem of many of its investment firms. Agility and National Bank of Kuwait weighed while other blue chips remained largely muted. The market winded up at 6986.6 points while the weighted index dropped 3.41 points to settle at 383.64 points. Agility plunged 8.5 percent adding to steep losses in the earlier sessions. The logistics major winded up at KD 0.570 with volume turnover of 12.52 million shares. The stock had dipped 25 percent in November and is trading 9.5 percent lower since the start of the year. National Bank of Kuwait slid 1.8 percent to close at KD 1.080 adding to an identical loss on Tuesday. The lender currently has a price-to
