JEDDAH, 29 January 2006 — After a record surge last week, the Saudi stock market declined yesterday. The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) closed 137.15 points lower at 18,614.63.
The index closed on Thursday at an all-time high of 18,751.78 points.
Over SR42.54 billion worth of shares changed hands yesterday as shares of 58 companies edged higher while 18 companies were down out 77 symbols traded yesterday.
The major Banking and Industrial Indexes were down yesterday as they closed 322.70 points down to 45,012.49 and 98.16 points lower to 44,616.24, respectively.
Shares of Al-Rajhi Banking & Investment Corp., Saudi Hollandi Bank, Banque Saudi Fransi and Bank Albilad fell while shares of other banks such as The Saudi Investment Bank, The Saudi British Bank and Samba Financial Group rose yesterday.
In the industrial sector, shares of Saudi Basic Industries Corp., Al-Ahsa for Development Co. and Saudia Dairy & Foodstuff Co. declined while shares of other companies rose yesterday.
The cement sector was in the red as shares of only Tabuk Cement rose 1.47 percent to SR639.75, while other companies were in negative territory.
In the services sector, shares of Saudi Real Estate Co. and Aseer Trading, Tourism & Manufacturing Co. edged lower by 3.23 percent to SR809 and SR1.98 percent to SR1,686, respectively.
Saudi Telecom Co. shares dropped 4.24 percent to SR1,174 while shares of Etihad Etisalat edge higher slightly to SR735.25.
The Agriculture Index climbed 515.78 points to 12,147.04 as shares of all companies rose yesterday.
Meanwhile, Shamil Bank, a leading Bahrain-based Islamic commercial and investment bank, last week announced the launch of the $100 million Shamil China Realty Modaraba, the first ever Islamic property fund for investment in the Chinese real estate market. The Modaraba will invest in the Xuan Huang China Realty Investment Fund Ltd., a joint venture between Shamil Bank and CITIC Group, a major state-owned Chinese conglomerate.
Xuan Huang China Realty Investment Fund Ltd. will undertake high-quality, Shariah-compliant investments in land development projects, as well as residential, commercial and industrial properties that offer significant potential for capital appreciation.
CIAM-Shamil Assets Management Limited, owned by Shamil Bank and CITIC Group, will act as the investment manager and will originate, evaluate and execute those transactions that meet the fund company’s stringent investment criteria.
CITIC Group is among the largest state-owned entities in China with total assets in excess of $86 billion. CITIC Group and Dar Al-Maal Al Islami Trust (DMI), of which Shamil Bank is a subsidiary, have been seeking to build a long-term relationship through which to develop a number of investment opportunities in the Chinese market, with this representing the first of such ventures.
Having implemented the corporate structure and executed the relevant agreements in September 2005, Shamil Bank and CITIC International Assets Management, CITIC Group’s asset management arm, have since built a promising pipeline of investments and are in an advanced stage of evaluating a number of opportunities. The sponsors have already committed $20 million of the capital of the fund company, with Shamil and CITIC committing $12.5 million and $7.5 million, respectively.