Arab stock markets rallied at the start of the new trading week on Sunday, drawing momentum from first quarter profits and rising oil prices, financial analysts said, dpa reported. The biggest gains were scored by the Dubai stock exchange, the benchmark of which climbed by 3.38 per cent as foreign investors returned to build up positions with receding fears over the first quarter results of listed firms, according to analysts. The Dubai bourse shed 5.1 per cent last week on sell-off by foreigners who were apparently sceptical over the first quarter profits and plans to reschedule Dubai World debts. The all-share index of the Abu Dhabi stock exchange also gained 0.86 per cent on Sunday compared with a loss of 1.3 per cent last week. The UAE stocks apparently drew support from the Saudi stock exchange and better-than-expected profits of blue chips, particularly the petrochemical and banking sectors. The Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) of the Saudi stock exchange, the only Middle East bourse which starts trading on Saturdays, gained about 1.7 per cent in two days of trading, to close at an 18-month-high at 6,888.37 points on Sunday. "The market has been pulled up by profits posted by the petrochemical and banking sectors in the first quarter of the year," Saudi analyst Abdul-Aziz al-Ghodair said. He referred mainly to a 33-per-cent rise in the quarterly profits of the Saudi Arabian Fertilizers Co. (SAFCO). However, al-Ghodair said that a downward "mild correction has become necessary and even inevitable at this juncture in order to lure new investors to the market". Jordanian shares also extended last week's gains on Sunday with the all-share index of the Amman Stock exchange gaining further 1.3 per cent. "Confidence is apparently returning to the market amid growing foreign buying," an Amman-based portfolio manager said. Kuwait's KSE all-share index edged lower with a decline of 0.25 per cent and closure at 7,552 points. Egyptian shares extended strong gains on Sunday led by Orascom Telecom which climbed by 6.5 per cent amid intensive foreign buying, analysts said. Egypt's AGX30 index, measuring the performance of the market's 30 most active stocks, gained 2.75 per cent on Sunday, closing at 7,448 points. -- SPA
