All seven stock markets ended the first three months of the year in positive territory, led by the Saudi bourse, the largest stock market in the region. The Saudi Tadawul All-Shares Index (TASI), which rose 27.5 percent in 2009, added 11 percent in the first quarter of this year to close at 6,801.01 points up from 6,121.76 points last year.
The Kuwait Stock Exchange, the second largest Arab bourse, was up 7.5 percent to close the quarter at 7,533.60 points from 7,005.30 points last year. In 2009, the market lost 10 percent. KSE was boosted by the multi-billion dollar deal to sell the African assets of Zain telecom, the market leader, but was still impacted by political tension and troubled investment companies.
The two United Arab Emirates bourses of Dubai and Abu Dhabi remained affected by the Dubai debt woes as state-owned Dubai World attempts to reschedule 14.2 billion it owes to various banks.
The Dubai Financial Market, which gained 10.3 percent last year, finished the quarter 2.2 percent higher, the lowest rise among Gulf bourses. The DFM Index closed at 1,843.47 points from 1,803.58 points at the end of 2009.
The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange rose six percent in the first three months to close at 2,908.47 points compared to 2,743.61 points last year. It added 14.8 percent in 2009. The Qatar Securities Market increased 7.2 percent to close the quarter at 7,462.49 points from 6,959.17 points last year. The tiny Bahrain Stock Exchange, which was the biggest loser last year, shedding 19.2 percent, rose 6.1 percent in the first quarter to close 1,547.13 points. And the small Muscat Securities Market inched up 5.1 pe
rcent to close the quarter at 6,697.51 points from 6,368.80 points last year.
