Beirut SE: Blom (1 month)
Current Year High: 1,526.31 Current Year Low: 1,168.36
The Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE) weakened on local conditions in January, as Blom Bank’s BSI closed at 1,462.74 points on Jan. 25, representing a 3.1% drop week-on-week and a 2.6% retreat since the start of 2008. With futile political talks, another presidential election postponement, an assassination, orchestrated strikes and threats of more of the same, the panic moods and recession mongering elsewhere could not be much of a dampener for the hearty investors who were active on the BSE, although the index shed a few percentage points during the bad days. Overall, the picture for the BSE is as clear as the country’s political situation. Solidere implemented the withdrawal of its shares from the Kuwait Stock Exchange at the start of the year, where the cross-listed Solidere stock had been inactive for months. Effective Jan. 25, additional 4 million shares of Bank of Beirut started trading on the Lebanese bourse.
Amman SE (1 month)
Current Year High: 8,289.34 Current Year Low: 5,560.56
The Amman Stock Exchange’s (ASE) four month long rally stopped in its tracks on a cold January weekend. The ASE Index, which ascended from 7,519.25 points on Dec. 30 to 8,239.34 points on Jan. 17, fell back and closed at 7,671.26 points on Jan 24. The strong participation of regional investors, inflation fears following the latest US prime interest rate cut, impact of the global market pessimism, but also profit taking were named as reasons for the ASE’s drop after mid-January. Arab Bank, Jordan Electric Power, and Jordan Petroleum Refinery were the most active stocks in the week ended Jan 24. Notable losers in the scare week included Jordan Telecom as well as the Jordanian affiliate of French bank Societe Generale which created its own epicenter of financial turmoil through a record fraud and write-down announcement.
Abu Dhabi SM (1 month)
Current Year High: 4,930.39 Current Year Low: 2,839.16
The Abu Dhabi Securities Market (ADSM) floundered under the panic attack of mid-January after a 350 point rise in the first half of the month. The fall by nearly 400 points in the three bad days was followed by a 280-point rise in the next two days as the ADSM index closed at 4,581.54 points on Jan. 24. Whereas the real estate sub-index is still the ADSM’s bar for strongest performer and the insurance index the weakest under a 12-month view, the month of January staged a counter show with the real estate sector along with energy stocks underperforming the general index and the insurance index in positive territory on Jan. 24 when compared with the beginning of the month. Although real estate stock Aldar was one of the three worst decliners during the crisis and saw uneven share price developments in the aftermath of the panic, it bears recalling that, only days earlier, analysts unsurprisingly named the real estate sector as one with potential resilience and good growth prospects in 2008.
Dubai FM (1 month)
Current Year High: 6,291.87 Current Year Low: 3,658.13
The Dubai Financial Market Index moved from 6,000.98 points on Dec. 30 through significant gains and sharp falls. The downturn on the DFM accelerated from a drop of 3% Jan. 20 to losses of 5.3% Jan. 21 and 6.2% on Jan. 22 before a bounce back that allowed the market to close at 5,602.34 points on Jan. 24. Given that cautious analysts had been wondering out loud if the DFM would see a bit of correction after the market ran hot in the fourth quarter of 2007 and that foreign institutional investors after mid-January reportedly shifted out of positions in GCC stocks for portfolio reasons, the notion of the DFM regressing from earlier highs should not have been shocking. But there was that suddenness and scope of fluctuations. Emaar Properties bounced around like a ball of quicksilver, down one day and up 11.1% the next. DFM Co, the bourse operator whose 2007 profit exceeded company and analyst forecasts, yo-yoed limit down and almost 15% up.
Kuwait SE (1 month)
Current Year High: 13,436.20 Current Year Low: 9,584.50
As the Kuwait Stock Exchange Index closed at 13,260.50 points on Jan. 24, brokers on the KSE could snugly opine that the KSE suffered less than regional peers in the January scare. The dip of Jan. 20 was visible but mild and compared with Dec. 30 the month saw an index gain by over 750 points. Market cap leader Zain, which increased in early January after having traded sideways in December with a close of KWD 3.820 on Dec. 31, was affected by selling pressure after mid-January and closed at KWD 4 on Jan. 24. Kuwait Finance House, the KSE’s number two by market cap gave an impressive performance rising from KWD 2.880 on Dec. 30 to KWD 3.260 on Jan. 24; KFH reported that its net profit in 2007 reached $1 billion and was 70% improved on 2006. NBK had a more mixed month as the stock from Jan. 16 to 24 gave up more than half of gains it accomplished in the first half of January. The bank reported $ 1 billion in 2007 net profit, up 14% on 2006.
Saudi Arabia SE (1 month)
Current Year High: 11,895.47 Current Year Low: 6,861.80
The Saudi Stock Exchange (SSE) started the year in high gear after profit taking and portfolio adjustments had taken the Tadawul index 750 points lower in the last days of 2007. From 10,842.24 points at the start of January, the SSE moved up over 1,000 points to a peak of 11,895.47 on Jan. 12. But the global recession scare hit the SSE with a vengeance. From Jan. 20–22, the index tumbled over 2,215 points, or almost 20%. This scary Sunday, mad Monday, and terrible Tuesday made the market feel the limitations of investor confidence in unprecedented ways before calming to close at 9,360.44 points on Jan. 23. SABIC shares saw their heaviest trading in over a year on Jan. 23, the day after the carnage, but despite limit-up intra-day quotations closed at SAR 161 unchanged to Jan 22 — 26% below the stock’s year high reached only 10 days earlier.
Muscat SM (1 month)
Current Year High: 9,854.02 Current Year Low: 5,532.64
The Muscat Securities Market entered 2008 on a windy road that started at 8,936.81 points on Dec. 30 and terminated at 9,087.43 points on Jan. 24. The index reached a 12-month high of 9,854.02 points on Jan. 6. While the market showed no panic on Jan. 20 and 21, it did drop by 8.3% on Jan. 22. Brisk buying in the weakened price environment ensued on Jan. 23, with a significant boost turnover and index gains of 2.8%. While industrial stocks did better than other sectors in the first days of January, banking took the lead in mid-month and the services sector had a slight upper hand by close on Jan. 24. Oman Holdings International, which had traded on a flat line in the first part of January, jumped 7.9% on Jan. 21.
Bahrain SE (1 month)
Current Year High: 2,821.79 Current Year Low: 2,106.70
Indices on the smallish Bahrain Stock Exchange (BSE) largely stayed their course in January, flattening out with the start of the second trading week in 2008. The main index moved up to close at 2,794.30 on Jan. 24 from 2,733.54 points on Dec. 30. The largest listed bank by market cap, Ahli United, moved from BHD 1.4 on Dec 30 to BHD 1.35 on Jan. 24. The stock of Ithmaar Bank jumped close to 10% in the fourth January week; the bank issued new shares and bonus shares as it concluded a merger transaction by share swap with Shamil Bank which delisted as part of the process but will continue to operate as Islamic brand. In their last board meeting of 2007, BSE management extended the daily main trading session from two to three hours per day, effective Jan. 13, saying that the move aims at increasing trading activity.
Doha SM: Qatar (1 month)
Current Year High: 10,718.78 Current Year Low: 5,944.03
In Doha, the bourse checked a two-year high of 10,718.39 points on Jan. 16 in a climb of over 1,000 points from Dec. 30 but the market came crashing to 9,151.93 by Jan. 22 before getting a notch up to its close at 9,500.37 points on Jan. 24. The down days engulfed major players including Industries Qatar and large banks. The banking and industry sector indices closed Jan. 24 with a marginal minus and small plus, respectively, when compared with the start of January, but the services sector fared less well and the insurance sub-index underperformed, reporting in more than 25% lower on Jan. 24 than at the start of the year. Barwa Real Estate, which in recent weeks has received a license for a London subsidiary and shortly thereafter also announced a 25% rights issue, became a 20% partner in a $4 billion real estate project in London. Qatar Islamic Bank, Qatar National Bank, and QInvest each also took 20% stakes.
Tunis SE (1 month)
Current Year High: 2,712.33 Current Year Low: 2,436.94
The Tunindex opened 2008 at 2,614.07 points and closed the reviewed period at 2,678.18 points on January 25. During the month, the financial services and financial companies sub-indices performed on the upper side of the market’s spectrum while the industrial and consumer goods sectors converged on the market’s lower performing side. Some volatility set in already around January 14 and index losses in resonance to the regional market panic were concentrated on January 22 with a 30-point drop.
Casablanca SE All Shares (1 month)
Current Year High: 13,892.65 Current Year Low: 10,207.24
The Casablanca All Shares Index rallied by nearly 1,200 points in the first three trading weeks of 2008, advancing from 12,694.07 points at the end of December to 13,892.65 points on Jan. 17. It dropped 515 points by the following Tuesday and recovered 340 points in the next three sessions to close at 13,715.49 points on Jan. 25. With a gain of over 8% since the start of 2008, the Casablanca Stock Exchange was the strongest gainer among the 12 MENA stock markets under coverage here. The Moroccan bourse last year has benefited from limited availability of alternatives to local investors. It also expanded its reach by the number but not the combined value of 2007 initial public offerings; its 10 IPOs followed Saudi Arabia and Jordan in terms of numbers.
Cairo SE: Hermes (1 month)
Current Year High: 97,993.63 Current Year Low: 57,013.49
After having climbed straight up for more than a month, the Cairo and Alexandria Stock Exchanges Hermes Index retreated from a Jan. 13 record high of 97,993.63 points; it dived over 12% by Jan. 22 and closed with some renewed gains at 88,873.74 points on Jan. 24. Share price losses during the scare period were distributed widely, with telecoms companies losing close to 10% week-on-week and some leading companies in real estate, construction, finance, and manufacturing also recording sizeable share price losses. Index gains in early January were attributed to retail investor buying of small and medium caps whereas post the January crisis institutional investors were said to be bargain hunting. The Egyptian bourse already in 2007 displayed greater sensitivity than other Arab stock exchanges to international market swings.
