KUWAIT CITY: Arab stock markets have lost $49 billion in terms of value since anti-government protests in Egypt began, Kuwaiti asset managers KAMCO said Thursday. The capitalization of 13 Arab bourses plunged from $991 billion on Jan. 25, when mass protests against President Hosni Mubarak began, to $942 billion at the end of January, it said in a report. Most of the decline came from Gulf stock markets, which dropped $32 billion in value to $750 billion, with the Saudi bourse – the largest in the Arab world – diving $21 billion, the report said. The Egyptian stock market lost $12 billion in the first two days of the protests before it was closed, the report said. KAMCO attributed the losses to fear among investors that the protests in Egypt and, earlier, Tunisia could spread to other countries in the region and trigger a flight of capital. "Protests have caused a state of random sell-off at some bourses," KAMCO said. Prior to the unrest, Arab stock markets had been recovering losses sustained during the global economic crisis, gaining more than $100 billion in value last year, the report said. Dubai's main bourse, the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) General Index slipped 0.8 percent Thursday to 1,581.01 points but the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange rose 0.8 percent to 2,645.02, reversing sharper gains made Wednesday. The DFM has lost nearly four percent in value since the onset of the demonstrations on the Jan. 24. Traders continued to focus on developments in Egypt as protestors and the government's military clashed. Egypt's benchmark index, the EGX 30 Index remains closed for the sixth working day, but is expected to reopen Monday. Elsewhere in the region, other indices fared better including Qatar's measure, which crept up 0.3 percent to 8,761.20 points. "Qatari investors usually boost the market. Last week when everyone else was down Qatar was the only one in the green," said Alfred Fayek, head of MENA equity sales at EFG Hermes. "Even if foreign investors sell, you get Qatari investors buying," he said. Saudi Arabia's stock benchmark Tadawul climbed 2.2 percent to 6,513.28 points Wednesday, reversing a severe drop on the first day of trading this week when the impact of Egypt's political problems hit home. Oman's measure ticked 0.09 percent higher to 6,856.64 points, Kuwait slipped 0.6 percent to 6,774.50 points and Bahrain's index dropped 0.7 percent to 1,442.35. Tunisia's Tunindex was also in positive territory as it closed 2.5 percent higher to 4,433.31 points. Violent clashes in Egypt between pro- and anti-government demonstrators kept financial markets nervous Thursday, while the euro slid after the European Central Bank's president said high inflation would prove to be only temporary. Traders are monitoring the situation in Cairo as the Egyptian army moves to end the violence after standing by this week as the two sides battled with rocks, sticks, bottles and firebombs. Though the market impact of Egypt's turmoil has diminished as the week progressed, it has fueled uncertainty. That's evident in the oil markets, where traders worry oil-producing countries could be affected.
