RIYADH, 18 April 2003 — Saudi shares rose for the fifth successive week since the start of the US-British war on Iraq and closed yesterday up 2.8 percent, traders said.
The Tadawul All-Shares Index (TASI) finished the week on 2,997.95 points from last week’s 2,916.67 points.
The TASI recorded its highest close ever on Wednesday at 2,998.91 points, but on April 8 it hit an all-time peak of 3,019 points during trading. The index soared above the 3,000-point mark several times during the week.
The TASI is now up 19 percent on the end of 2002, and 18.4 percent since the start of the war on March 20. On March 19, the index finished on 2,532.07 points, slightly above its 2002 close of 2,518.08 points.
The market has been steadily rising on war news, abundant liquidity and encouraging first quarter corporate results.
The bourse’s surge was again led by blue chips, especially Saudi Telecom, the Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC), the Saudi Electricity Co. (SEC) and the Al-Rajhi Banking and Investment Corp. (ARABIC).
Saudi Telecom, which has become the largest firm since its partial selloff last year and listing on Jan. 25, finished up six percent.
Industrial giant SABIC gained 4.4 percent, SEC rose 3.2 percent, while ARABIC, which reported an increase in profits for the first time in one year, added 4.7 percent.
The nine listed banks, Saudi Telecom, SABIC and SEC together make up more than 85 percent of the market value.
Prices of 48 companies rose, 16 went down and four listed firms did not trade. One issue did not change.
Trading value decreased 26.3 percent to SR10.4 billion ($2.8 billion) from last week’s SR14.35 billion ($3.8 billion).
The stock market in Saudi Arabia is the most capitalized in the Arab world at more than $105 billion, but operates only on an interbank basis.