Saudi closes on a nine day high

STILL RISING: Saudi market closed higher for ninth day in a row. (Getty Images)

Saudi Arabia's index closed higher for a ninth trading day, led by telecom and banking stocks.

The index, which fell 56 percent last year, rose 0.61 percent to 5,322 points. Saudi Telecom Co rose 2.86 percent, Samba Financial Group 2.35 percent and Banque Saudi Fransi 5.29 percent.

The Saudi measure has risen 17.1 percent in the last nine trading days, largely on gains in the price of oil. Oil prices have held above $48 a barrel as a result of escalating tensions in the Middle East.

Dubai's main index ended up 1.57 percent at 1,771 points, led higher by real estate shares which rose as local investors took heart from a rally in global stocks.

Emaar Properties climbed 3.16 percent and Union Properties 3.8 percent. Emaar shares fell more than 84 percent in 2008 as a building boom in Dubai began to unravel.

Bucking the trend was Arabtec Holding which ended 7.26 percent lower after the construction firm lost a $1.3 billion contract to build a race course. The stock tumbled nearly 10 percent in the previous session.

World stocks extended gains on Wednesday, extending a recent rally into an tenth trading day.

In Abu Dhabi, the index edged down 0.56 percent to 2,541 points, led lower by bank stocks.

National Bank of Abu Dhabi lost 3.37 percent after its chairman resigned.

Qatar's main index also extended its decline into a third trading day, dropping more than 2 percent as local and foreign investors cash out after a rally last month.

The Doha index, which retreated more than 7 percent in the last two trading days, fell 2.08 percent to 6,315 points. The measure rose more than 13 percent in December in gains spurred by buying among local investment funds.

Commercial Bank of Qatar shed 6.54 percent.

"Some local funds had been manipulating the index to push up stocks in order to improve the net asset value of their funds before the end of the month," said Amro Motasim, chief trader at Ahli Bank.

"They stopped at the beginning of the year and now you've got everyone selling. No one is supporting the market and the trend is still down."

Kuwaiti blue-chip shares rallied on broad-based buying among local investment funds, but selling pressure continued to weigh on some investment and property firms on fears their profits could get hit during an economic downturn.

"Stocks have come to pretty interesting levels," said Shahid Hameed, head of asset management, GCC, at Global Investment House.

Mobile Telecommunications Co, which rallied 6.76 percent on Tuesday, gained 6.33 percent. The stock's price-to-earnings ratio was about 9, Hameed said.

National Bank of Kuwait traded at about 1.6 times book value, advancing 5.17 percent, having jumped 9.43 percent on Tuesday.

A state fund launched last month to stabilise the bourse was seeking long-term share investments, the Kuwait Investment Authority said on Sunday.

Oman's main index closed higher after two days of declines, led by banks.

The index, which fell 4.6 percent in the last two trading days, edged up 0.35 percent to 5,462 points.

Bank Muscat rose 1.86 percent and National Bank of Oman 0.55 percent. (Reuters)

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