JEDDAH, 5 February 2006 — Saudi stocks surged to a record high yesterday. The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) jumped 143.38 points to to close at an all-time high of 19,191.35.
The stock market turnover reached SR36.45 billion yesterday.
In the banking sector, shares of Al-Rajhi Banking & Investment Corp. soared 4.57 percent to SR3,681, followed by Samba Financial Group by 1.66 percent to SR979. However, shares of Riyad Bank and Saudi Hollandi Bank declined slightly to SR870 and SR1,325, respectively
Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) shares fell 1.41 percent to SR1,822.
Saudi Advanced shares jumped 10 percent to SR1,309.
Agriculture sector dominated trading as shares of all companies made hefty gains yesterday. Shares of Tabuk Agriculture and Eastern Agriculture edged higher by 10 percent each to close at SR553 and SR825, respectively. Saudi Fisheries and Jouff Agriculture shares jumped 9.89 percent each.
Etihad Etisalat shares rose 2.38 percent to SR773 while shares of Saudi Telecom Co. (STC) edged higher slightly at SR1,192 yesterday.
Saudi Electricity Co. (SEC) shares fell 0.33 percent to SR150.
Saudi Livestock was most active by value as over SR1.96 billion worth of shares changed hands yesterday.