Arab stock markets ended the week with mixed results as investors appraised end-of-year earnings and eyed the fallout from rising tensions between Iran and the West over Tehran's nuclear programme, analysts said on Friday according to dpa. Market watchers also expect Middle East bourses to benefit from write-down deal on Greek debt and European Union efforts to contain the eurozone sovereign debt crisis. "I believe investors are monitoring annual earnings and dividend distributions to decide their portfolios for the coming period,"Nizar Taher, chief of brokerage at the Jordan Ahli Bank, told dpa. "Regional markets are also interested in seeing European policymakers adopt effective measures to bring the sovereign debt ordeal under control," he said. Taher said a threat by Iran to block the strategic Strait ofHormuz, where 35 per cent of the world's seaborne oil flows, would have a negative impact on regional markets, particularly in the oil-producing Gulf states. Saudi shares suffered this week after the Saudi Basic IndustriesCorp. (SABIC), the top Middle East petrochemical conglomerate, released lower-than-expected profits for 2011, analysts said according to dpa. The Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) of the Arab world's largest stock exchange lost 1.7 per cent on a weekly basis, closing at 6,377.99 points. "The market is showing unjustified concerns toward annual earnings of leading firms," Saudi analyst Rashid Fawzan was reported as saying to dpa. --More
