JEDDAH, 25 August 2005 — The Saudi stock market recovered yesterday after a hefty 155.79 points fall on Tuesday.
The Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) posted 68.69 points gain yesterday to close at 14,656.60.
Sixty stocks were higher while 17 were down out of 77 stocks traded yesterday.
All the indices were higher yesterday except Cement index which dropped 64.01 points at 9,143.01. Arab Cement stock was slightly higher at SR824.50 while other cement stocks suffered falls.
The Industrial index also recovered yesterday to close at 38,112.44, up 199.42 points. Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) share edged slightly higher yesterday to close at SR1,582.
The Banking index rose slightly by 25.34 points yesterday at 32,681.40.
The agriculture index gained 86.94 points or 1.84 percent to close yesterday at 4,803.24 while the Services index was up 80.67 points or 1.92 percent at 4,291.66.
Hail Agriculture stock soared 7.95 percent yesterday to close at SR203.75 followed by Saudi Fisheries which made 7.04 percent gain to close yesterday at SR304. Bishah Agriculture stock also closed 4.96 percent higher at SR264.50.
Dr. Fahd Al-Tukhaify, a consultant at the Economic Studies Center, said Tuesday’s corrective drop in stock index was expected after its continuous growth over the past weeks and said the drop could reach 400 points.
Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, a sister publication of Arab News, he highlighted the role of investment funds in moving the index. “The funds play an important role in balancing between small investors, speculators and other investors,” he pointed out.
Al-Tukhaify attributed the remarkable growth of the index during the past eight months to a stream of good news. He estimated the total value of investment funds at SR15 billion, adding that they would make a profit of 75 to 80 percent by end of this year.