Arab bourses gain $89bn

Arab share investors emerged wealthier by nearly $89 billion in the first eight months of 2013 and those in the oil-rich Gulf were the largest profiteers.

From around $966 billion at the end of 2012, the combined market capitalization of 14 official Arab stock exchanges jumped to nearly $1,055bn in the first week of August.

Official Arab data showed the markets of the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar were the star performers during that period mainly because of strong performance by listed firms benefiting from massive public spending and strong economic growth in the region.

The figures by the Abu Dhabi-based Arab Monetary Fund (AMF), a key Arab League financial establishment, showed most Arab bourses emerged gainers at the end of the first week of August but key victims were Morocco and conflict-hit Egypt and Syria.

From around $55.9bn at the end of 2012, the market capitalization of Dubai’s bourse soared to one of its highest levels of about $65.2bn at the end of the first week of August. Abu Dhabi’s market was equally strong as it swelled from nearly $82bn to around $107.4bn in the same period.

Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul, the largest and busiest stock market in the Middle East, gained nearly $42bn, almost half the combined increase in the Arab bourses. From $383.8bn at the end of 2012, its capitalization leaped to $425.2bn in the first week of August, showed the report by the AMF, which tracks regional bourses.

Qatar’s Doha securities market was another good performer, with its capitalization swelling from nearly $135.8bn to $154.5bn in the same period.

The report gave no historical data for Kuwait but its market capitalization stood at around $102.6bn at the end of the first week of August.

Bahrain’s bourse rose from $15.7bn to $17.6bn and Oman from 22.8bn to $25.9bn, the report showed.

Outside the oil-rich Gulf, Morocco’s bourse slumped from $51.2bn to $47.9bn while Egypt’s market went down from $57.1bn to $53.4bn. Damascus bourse in war-battered Syria remained as low as $1.6bn due to poor share dealing.

The capitalisation fell slightly from around $17bn to $16.8bn in Lebanon, from $9.2bn to $8.9bn in Tunisia and from $27.6bn to $24.9bn in Jordan. The Palestinian bourse rose slightly from $2.8bn to $2.9bn.
 

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