Saudi Arabia's petrochemicals pushed up the stock benchmark Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) following two sessions of flat trading as investors traded on strong sector fundamentals. TASI gained 0.99 percent to close at 5,979.3 points Wednesday. Saudi Kayan Petrochemicals, the most active by volume, rose 2.8 percent and bellwether Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) climbed 0.8 percent. The petrochemical index made up the bulk of turnover in the market and climbed 0.9 percent. "Petrochemical producers still have a fundamental advantage with low fixed feedstock prices," said Paul Gamble, head of research at Jadwa Investment. "At these kinds of levels, they still have good margins. And prices haven't come off that much- we've seen a reasonable recovery in the last week or so." Volumes were high in domestic driven names in the insurance and agriculture and food sectors, indicating a risk-averse investor attitude ahead of a long holiday. Investors are uncertain how the global economic situation will unfold amid fears the developed countries may be heading back into recession. Elsewhere, Dubai's property stocks dragged down the index despite news from developer Nakheel on a sukuk issue that was expected to lift investor sentiment. The benchmark ended 0.1 percent lower at 1,457 percent, extending its 2011 losses to 10.6 percent. Abu Dhabi's index added 0.2 percent to end at 2,582 points in its third-straight gain. Qatar's benchmark ended lower by 0.2 percent at 8,109 points, but holds above the support of 8,000 levels. Oman's index ended 0.5 percent higher at 5,517 points, recovering Tuesday's losses. Volumes hit a near three-month high. Dubai's Nakheel will issue the first tranche of a AED4.8 billion ($1.31 billion) Islamic bond to trade creditors Thursday, its chairman said, as part of a complex debt restructuring underway since 2009. Contractor Arabtec, one of Nakheel's trade creditors, weighed on the index with a 1.5 percent fall and Emaar Properties slipped 0.4 percent. "This thing has been long anticipated, it is supposed to be good news for developers who deal with Nakheel," says an Abu Dhabi-based trader who asked not to be identified due to company policies. "The market is taking a holiday. When we've all come back from Eid, this will be seen positively. This is one more thing Nakheel has done to put its finance house in order." Telecoms operator Etisalat climbed 0.5 percent, after it appointed Ahmad Abdulkarim Julfar to a newly-created group chief executive role Large-caps weigh with Qatar National Bank slipping 0.2 percent, Industries Qatar retreating 0.5 percent and Qatar Telecom falling 2.5 percent.
