Amman - Leading Arab stock exchanges declined this week because of what financial analysts on Friday attributed to the advent of the fasting month of Ramadan and a shrinking volume of liquidity.

"We believe investors' decisions have been affected by the start of Ramadan when business retreats to a low ebb," an Amman-based portfolio manager told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

"However, we also believe the low prices of stocks will trigger a wave of buying in the coming two weeks that will reverse the downward trend," he said.

Other analysts expected regional stocks to rebound towards the end of September, when third-quarter results start to come out.

Saudi shares plummeted after two weeks of continuous gains and the application of the "swap agreements" that allow foreigners to trade Saudi stocks.

The Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) shed 4.4 per cent this week, closing at 8,504.72. The Saudi index is currently 23 per cent lower than at the start of the year, according to the weekly report of the Riyadh-based Bakheet Investment Group (BIG).

The report expected the market "to stabilize" during the month of Ramadan, which started on Monday, and prices would be "relatively unchanged" as investors await the third quarter results of listed firms.

Jordanian shares were volatile this week amid a wave of profit- taking that targeted leading firms, particularly the Arab Potash Co., the Jordan Phosphate Mines Co. and the Jordan Petroleum Refinery.

The all-share price index of the Amman Stock Exchange gained 0.31 per cent to close at 4,330, according to the ASE weekly report.

Kuwaiti shares extended losses, a fact blamed on leading investment funds that allegedly played havoc with prices.

The KSE all-share price index lost 3.7 per cent to close at 13,962.

The benchmark of the United Arab Emirates stock exchanges of Dubai and Abu Dhabi shed 2.1 per cent to close at 5,226.

Egypt's CASE 30 index, which measures the performance of the market's 30 most active firms, gained 3.1 per cent to close at 8,401. (dpa)