May 14, 2006	Sunday	Rabi-us-Sani 15, 1427

RIYADH/DUBAI May 13: Bourses in the Gulf Arab region soared on Saturday after Saudi Arabia replaced a key regulator who had borne the brunt of public outrage over a recent market crash.

The Saudi all-share index rose nearly 10 per cent, Dubai’s bourse climbed more than 9 per cent and Abu Dhabi rose more than 6 per cent. But Kuwait’s market, the region’s second largest, was down 1 per cent.

Other bourses in the Gulf region were closed for the weekend.

Saudi King Abdullah issued a decree on Friday naming Abdelrahman al-Tuweijri, a former representative to the International Monetary Fund, as head of the Capital Markets Authority (CMA), which runs the Arab world’s largest bourse.

He replaced Jammaz al-Suhaimi, a controversial figure who tried to stamp his authority on a notoriously opaque and volatile market dominated by wealthy speculators.

Tuweijri said restoring confidence in the bourse, which lost half its value in three months, wiping some $400 billion off investors’ books, would be a priority.

Analysts say the Saudi market had been ripe for collapse after record oil revenues fired a months-long rally that made it one of the most expensive in the world.

Gulf markets on Saturday registered some of their steepest intra-day gains in months in response to Tuweijri’s appointment, with the Saudi market jumping nearly by its 10 per cent limit minutes after opening.

Turnover was low at around 700 million Saudi riyals ($186.7 million) because few investors wanted to sell, according to brokers. Daily turnover had been as high as 40 billion riyals before the crash began in February.—Reuters