Stock market games – The big bull stirs

While the consensus of stock market analysts at the end of a harsh 2006 was an uncertainty if those erratic equity markets – mainly those in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) – have reached the bottom, recent research papers by some major financial companies were taking a view of better tidings ahead. Dubai’s Shuaa capital in December said it is bullish on the UAE, Kuwait, and Oman and sees Saudi Arabia entering an accumulation phase. Kuwait-based Global Investment House predicts Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE to show more than 25% growth in equity markets in 2007 and forecasts “moderate growth rates” of 17% to 23% for stock markets in the other three GCC countries – Oman, Qatar, and Bahrain. In addition to these local firms, the Middle East research department of Japanese financial services house, Nomura, said “intuitive observations suggest that the markets are in the final stages of