Saudi shares recovered from a 13-week low on bargain-hunting Tuesday, with the stock benchmark Tadawul All Share Index gaining 0.51 percent to close at 7,104.24 points, thus, trimming May losses to 6 percent. “Saudi is in a good place with 7,000 as a key psychological level,” said Amer Khan, fund manager at Shuaa Asset Management. “For near-term, I'm hoping we won't see too much of a pull back. I would expect institutional investors to recognize the attractive offers at the moment and buy in. From a fundamental view, there was strong net income growth in Q1 and the momentum should continue for the year.” Banks helped gains, with Alinma Bank rising 2.3 percent, Samba Financial Group up 0.8 percent and Bank Albilad climbing 1.5 percent. Real estate stocks made a strong recovery, with the sector's index closing 1.5 percent higher. The insurance sector rebounded 2.5 percent. Elsewhere, Dubai index advanced 0.3 percent to 1,486 points, snapping a five-session losing streak and lifted from Monday's 14-week low. Abu Dhabi's bourse ended flat at 2,473 points. Oman's index slumped 1.2 percent to its lowest close since Feb. 6 at 5,587 points. Qatar index ticked up 0.03 percent to 8,491 Kuwait index gained 0.1 percent to 6,441 points. Bahrain benchmark eased 0.07 percent to 1,156 points. Egypt's main index fell 1.1 percent to 5,005 points, declining for a second day after hitting a seven-week high Sunday. Meanwhile, US stocks sank Tuesday as speculation about Greece's potential exit from the eurozone was rife after the country's political parties failed to forge a government. Recent elections failed to yield a clear victor and parties could not form a centrist coalition that would keep Athens committed to its EU-IMF bailout program, raising fears the nation will exit the eurozone. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 63.35 points, or 0.50 percent, at 12,632.00. The S&P 500 fell 7.69 (0.57 percent) to 1,330.66. The tech-heavy Nasdaq got a boost as Groupon earned analyst upgrades. But the index was down 8.82 points (0.30 percent) to 2,893.76. Strong US data was not enough to buoy Wall Street's optimism.
