Arab stocks close week lower on eurozone worries, oil prices

Arab stock markets lost fresh ground this week as investors continued to come under psychological pressure from the eurozone debt crisis and plummeting oil prices mainly due to European growth fears, financial analysts said Friday.The plunge was led by Saudi and Egyptian stocks, while United Arab Emirates shares found support from news that the Dubai World conglomerate had reached a deal to restructure 23.5 billion dollars in debt with its core lenders, they added."Arab investors are apparently still under the psychological impact of the slump of global markets in response to persistent eurozone debt ordeal," an Amman-based portfolio manager told German Press Agency dpa."The falling of oil prices below the 70-dollar level, a seventh-month low, will have a negative effect on regional markets, particularly in the Gulf region," he said.Saudi shares continued their downward trend this week with the petrochemical sector spearheading the decline.At least 40 cent of the production of the Saudi petrochemical giant, the Saudi Arabian Basic Industries Corp, goes to European markets, analysts said.The Tadawul All Share Index of the Saudi stock exchange plummeted 4.4 per cent this week, closing at 6,401.06 points.The performance of the Saudi market this week reflected "confusion" on the part of Saudi investors due to the eurozone's woes, said Abdul Hamid Omari, member of the Saudi Economic Society.He expected Saudi stocks to pick up, given the "robust nature of the Saudi economy and the huge spending on the part of the Saudi government."Jordanian shares continued their downward trend this week amid reports of retreating liquidity and declining confidence.The all-share price index of the Amman Stock Exchange shed 2.61 per cent this week, to close at 2,482 points, according to the ASE weekly report.Kuwait's KSE all-share index also closed 1.3 per cent in the red at 7,063 points, led by the banking sector.Reports that Dubai World had reached agreement with its creditors to reschedule a major part of its debt reflected positively on Thursday on the stock exchanges of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, analysts said.On a weekly basis, the benchmarks of the Dubai and Abu Dhabi markets shed 1.4 per cent and 0.5 per cent to close respectively at 1,692 points and 2,781 points.The Egyptian stock market was the Arab world's major loser this week due to extensive selling by both foreign and local investors who reacted sharply to the bad news on global bourses, analysts said.Egypt's AGX30 index, which measures the performance of the market's 30 most active stocks, dived 7.2 per cent this week, to close at 6,422 points.


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