Most Gulf stock markets gained fresh ground this week, particularly Saudi Arabia, as investors looked favorably to the rising oil prices and early reports of third quarter results, financial analysts said Friday. They noticed that crude prices would serve as a “catalyst” for regional bourses in the forthcoming weeks. On Thursday, bourses ended the week on a positive note but Dubai, where weekly gains were partly erased by profit-taking, while Abu Dhabi closed higher thanks to some individual stocks. Traders and analysts said the generally positive outcome came from rising oil prices and the third quarter reports from listed firms. They said that the upward movement of oil prices would serve as a catalyst for the Gulf stock markets in the coming weeks. They added that the economic indicators in the US and other major economies would definitely have psychological influence in the Gulf markets' activity. Saudi shares extended gains this week, deriving support from climbing oil prices and third quarter earnings of listed companies. The Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) of the Saudi stock exchange gained 2.14 percent this week, closing at 6,449.81 points. TASI is currently 34.3 per cent higher than the year's start, according to the weekly report of the Riyadh-based Bakheet Investment Group (BIG). The report expected the Saudi market to remain steady in the coming weeks as investors still adopted an “optimistic” attitude toward third quarter corporate profits. However, the BIG said that investors would be awaiting the quarterly earnings of blue chips, particularly the Saudi Arabian Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC). Kuwait's KSE all-share price index shed 1.8 per cent, closing at 7,708 points. The benchmarks of the United Arab Emirates stock exchanges of Dubai and Abu Dhabi went up by 2.9 percent and 1.5 percent, closing respectively at 2,351 points and 3,242 points. In Qatar and Oman, bank earnings dominated the news flow on Thursday. Bank Muscat closed 3.2 percent higher, after reporting a 38 percent drop in third-quarter net profit. Combined with gains at heavyweight Omantel, up 1 percent, the main index closed 0.6 percent higher. Qatar Islamic Bank fell 2.3 percent after posting disappointing third-quarter results. Other banks in Qatar fared better, driving the benchmark to close 0.7 percent higher. In Dubai, the benchmark retreated 1 percent to 2,351 points, whereas Abu Dhabi's index rose 0.3 percent to 3,240 points. In Qatar, the measure advanced 0.7 percent to 7,343 points. Muscat's index edged up 0.6 percent to 6,686 points.
