JEDDAH, 6 December 2006 — The Saudi stock market recovered over 300 points yesterday after tumbling below 8,000 points on Sunday. The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) closed at 7,999.45, up 309.74 points or 4.03 percent.

Out of 84 shares traded, the only loser was NCCI as its shares dropped slightly to SR107, while all other shares gained yesterday.

The stock market turnover was also higher yesterday. Over SR11.85 billion worth of shares changed hands yesterday.

The Banking index rose 809.06 points. Shares of Al-Rajhi Bank jumped 7.42 percent to SR191.75 and Bank Albilad by 5.92 percent to SR40.25 yesterday.

In the industrial sectors, shares of Saudi Basic Industries Corp. edged higher by 2.72 percent to close at SR104. The Industrial index increased by 594.05 points at 16,007.22.

In the telecom sector, shares of Saudi Telecom Co. (STC) and Etihad Etisalat gained 2.63 percent and 3.81 percent, respectively.

Financial analyst Nabeel Al-Mubarak urged the Capital Market Authority (CMA) to stop malpractices in the Saudi stock market by modernizing systems and imposing stiff punishment on violators. “Some of the problems in the stock market are related to CMA itself as it lacks manpower and does not complete its organizational structure. What is happening in the market is a repetition of same mistakes,” he said.

He also advised investors to keep away from the market for a year. “This has happened in all world markets that suffered crashes bigger than ours,” he added.

According to a report released by Tadawul on Sunday, at the end of November the market capitalization dropped 13.51 percent from October to reach at SR1.28 trillion ($341.65 billion).

TASI closed 14.3 percent lower at 8, 324.43 points as compared to 9,717.89 points at the end of October.

The total value of shares traded in November reached SR225.75 billion ($60.20 billion), and decreased by 21.87 percent as compared to previous month. The total number of shares traded increased by 18.98 percent to reach at 4.45 billion for November as compared to 3.74 billion in October.

The total number of transactions, executed during November decreased by 3.55 percent at 6.596 million as compared to 6.839 million trades in October.