Gulf stock markets plummeted across the board this week as investors came under “psychological” pressure from bad performance on global markets and pessimistic predictions of second quarter profits, financial analysts said Friday. “I believe that Arab investors have come again to closely monitor the situation at world markets,” Wajdi Makhamreh, chief operating officer at the Amman-based Sanabel International Holding, said. “We think regional markets plummeted this week mainly due to the psychological impact of what is going on at world bourses,” he said. Makhamreh also blamed the bad performance of Gulf stock markets over the past two weeks on fluctuating oil prices and expectations that the second quarter results of listed firms could be disappointing due to the world recession. Saudi shares dived this week amid heavy selling pressures due to deteriorating US and European market indices and fluctuating oil prices. The Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) of the Arab world's largest stock exchange declined 6.4 per cent this week, closing at 5,609.02 points. It was the Saudi market's worst weekly performance since January. TASI is currently 16.8 percent higher than the year's start, according to the weekly report of the Riyadh-based Bakheet Investment Group (BIG). It volatility to continue at the Saudi market until the first week of July when businesses start to release their quarterly balance sheets. Kuwait's KSE all-share price index shed 1.7 percent this week, to close at 8,140 points. The benchmark prices of the UAE stock exchanges of Dubai and Abu Dhabi plunged 7.7 percent and 6.1 percent, closing respectively at 1,859 points and 2,628 points.
