In a mixed week for the Arab markets, while the Qatar’s CBQ index was the best performer, rising 4.4 percent, the Palestinian bourse continued its nose-dive as the conflict with Israel persists.
The Jerusalem index of the Palestinian territories fell 3.7 percent last week, in addition to the previous week’s 4.3 percent drop, closing at 143.69 points. Since the beginning of the year, the index has lost over 30 percent of its value, and is 9.1 percent down since August 1, according to AFP news agency.
Oman’s MSM index also ended the week 14 percent lower, at 173.59 points, whereas in Morocco the CSE index fell 1.0 percent to 629.10 points. In Tunisia, although the Tunindex remained for the second week in a row almost unchanged at 1,324.11 points, it is still 8.2 percent lower since January.
In Lebanon, the BLOM index closed 1.0 percent lower at 440.10 points, as market-leader Solidere, the company responsible for the post-war construction of Beirut, lost an additional 2.7 percent due to political tension.
Among the week’s winners was Qatar’s CBQ index which rose 4.4 percent to close at 258.70 points, due to the sharp 8.8 percent gain of the telecom company Q-tel.
In Egypt, the Hermes Financial Index ended the week 1.6 percent higher at 5,619.18 points on account of gains by telecom firm Orascom and Media City. Jordan’s ASE index rose 3.5 percent to 150.08 points, spurred by the central bank’s decision to lower interest rates.
The KSE in Kuwait and the BSE index in Bahrain rose 1.5 percent and 3.0 percent to 1,726 points and 1,799.80 points respectively, on account of positive corporate results for the first half of 2001. Since the beginning of the year, the KSE index rose an astonishing 28 percent.
In Saudi Arabia, the NCFEI all-share index ended the week a mere 0.7 percent higher at 2,546.94 points, whereas in the United Arab Emirates the NBAD index inched up 0.3 percent to 2,439.11 points. —(Mena Report)
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
