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29 March 2024

Saudi bourse sharply rebounds in March

The surge in Saudi Arabia and Qatar lifted the combined Arab market capitalization to nearly $941 billion fro0m $910 billion in the same period. (AGENCIES)

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By Staff
Saudi Arabia’s bourse, the largest in the Middle East, jumped by nearly $21 billion in the first two weeks of March to partly offset massive losses in the previous weeks because of regional unrest, official data showed Monday.
The increase lifted the combined capitalization of the Arab stock markets by nearly $31 billion and the bulk of the rise was in Saudi and Qatar, showed the figures by the Abu Dhabi-based Arab Monetary Fund.
From around $318 billion at the end of February, the market capitalization of Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul bourse surged to nearly $339 billion on Sunday.
The increase partly offset a loss of about $54 billion suffered by Tadawul in the previous two months because of turmoil in the Arab region.
It followed statements by Saudi Arabia’s Finance Minister Ibrahim al-Assaf last week that the economy of the Gulf Kingdom, the world’s oil powerhouse, is strong and that he himself had bought local shares.
Qatar’s bourse also recorded a sharp recovery with its market capitalization swelling to around $117 billion on Sunday from $110 billion at the end of February. Kuwait, which had fallen by nearly $10 billion in February, slipped by around $300 million to $116.7 billion on Sunday.
The surge in Saudi Arabia and Qatar lifted the combined Arab market capitalization to nearly $941 billion fro0m $910 billion in the same period.
A breakdown showed Abu Dhabi gained about $1.4 billion to reach $69.9 billion compared with $68.5 billion. Dubai grew by nearly $two billion after a drop in previous weeks to reach $52.9 billion compared with $50.9 billion.
Bahrain, which has suffered from unrest, saw a slight fall to around $20 billion from $20.2 billion while Oman rose to $20.6 billion from $19.8 billion.
Outside the Gulf, Egypt remained unchanged at $71.4 billion while Morocco’s bourse edged down slightly to $69.6 billion from $69.8 billion.
Tunisia’s exchange, which was crippled during last month’s revolt, increased to around $10.2 billion from $9.4 billion after a decline in previous days.