Abu Dhabi: The regional stock markets are likely to be mostly flat in the week ahead in the absence of strong catalysts, but markets in Qatar and Saudi Arabia may have a bias towards the upside, buoyed by surging international oil prices, market analysts told Gulf News yesterday.

"For Dubai, the critical support level for the market is 1,600, while in Abu Dhabi it's 2,780. Investors are awaiting fourth quarter company results, mainly from the banking and real estate sectors, before they take fresh positions," said Mousa Haddad, head trader with National Bank of Abu Dhabi Asset Management.

"In Qatar it's a bull market, any weakness is a buying opportunity. In Saudi Arabia the critical support level for the market is at 6,600.

"In Egypt the situation is a little bit worrying because of the unrest in Tunisia. However, the sentiment over the long term in Egypt's market is positive," Haddad added.

No enough liquidity

"The performance of regional markets in the week ahead will be mixed.

"Technical analysis of Dubai and Abu Dhabi markets suggests more bias on the downside unless anything substantial is announced," said market analyst Ahmad Hamdy.

"There is no volume and not enough liquidity on the markets," he added.

On Thursday, the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) index closed 0.6 per cent lower at 1,609.22.

In Abu Dhabi, the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) general index, however, closed 0.28 per cent higher at 2,683.66.

Longest rising streak

On Friday, US stocks fell, ending the longest weekly winning streak for the Standard & Poor's 500 Index since 2007, after Goldman Sachs Group and Citigroup failed to beat analysts' earnings estimates and housing starts slid more than forecast.

The S&P 500 declined 0.8 per cent to 1,283.35 last week, the first drop after seven straight weeks of gains. It retreated 1 per cent on Wednesday, the biggest one-day drop since November. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 84.46 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 11,871.84. The indexes hadn't moved in opposite directions since October.

Last week European stocks posted their first weekly decline this year amid speculation the Chinese government will lift interest rates and as Goldman Sachs Group posted earnings that failed to exceed analysts' estimates.

As well, Asian stocks fell last week, with the benchmark indexes erasing their gain for the year.