By: Mahmoud Gamal
Mubasher: The Gulf stock markets are expected to continue their volatile trend on Thursday, in line with the mixed performance of global stocks, capital market analyst Mohamed Al Azmi told Mubasher.
Institutional and foreign investors directed their cash towards small-and mid-cap stocks listed on the Saudi and Kuwaiti bourses, which rose for the second successive session on Wednesday, analysts said.
Both the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) and Boursa Kuwait were strongly backed by annual results and dividend recommendations, financial expert Hussein Al Zawi told Mubasher.
Stability of oil prices and rise of some global stocks, especially the US ones, to record levels pushed local and foreign institutional investors to buy Saudi blue chips, like Sabec, listed on Tadawul, and other Kuwait-listed small caps, Al Zawi explained.
Sabec rose 1.6% on Wednesday, and it may push Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) to break above 7,200 points, the analyst noted.
Some portfolio investors withdrew their liquidity from the UAE bourses to pump it in the Saudi and Kuwait exchanges.
Translated by: Julian Nabil
