JEDDAH, 29 October 2007 — The Saudi stock market continued to surge for the second day this week after rising 3.75 percent last week. As the listed companies announced their third quarter results, the stock market showed positive signs. The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) gained 33.46 points to 8,397.97. The index increased 5.86 percent so far this year.

The insurance sector suffered badly yesterday. Out of 15 companies, shares of 3 companies surged while 11 companies were in the red. Only shares of Saudi United Cooperative Insurance companies were unchanged yesterday at SR73.

Shares of Malath Cooperative Insurance and Reinsurance Co. dropped by 6.34 percent to SR132.75, Allied Cooperative Insurance Co. by 3.97 percent to SR84.50, SAAB Takaful by 3.40 percent to SR134.75 and Saudi Arabian Cooperative Insurance Co. by 3.30 percent to SR80.50.

In the banking sector, shares of Banque Saudi Fransi increased by 1.40 percent to SR72.25 and Bank Albilad by 0.74 percent to SR34.

SAAB shares fell by 1.71 percent, Arab National Bank by 0.59 percent, Samba Financial Group by 0.58 percent and Bank AlJazira by 0.53 percent.

Al-Rajhi Bank shares declined 0.55 percent to SR89.25 after making its biggest one-day gain in more than two months on Saturday.

Shares of Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) kept their upward march yesterday after surging to a more than 14-month high on Saturday. SABIC shares closed at SR146, up 1.74 percent.

Saudi Chemical Company shares plunged 4.34 percent to SR33 after it announced 16 percent drop in net profits for nine months. Saudi Chemical posted third quarter net profit of SR12 million compared with SR42 million in the same period of last year.

In the telecom sector, Etihad Etisalat shares jumped 5.13 percent to SR76.75. Saudi Telecom Co. (STC) shares edged higher slightly to SR68.25.

Over SR8.99 billion worth of shares changed hands yesterday.

BMG Index Turnover Declines

The BMG Saudi Index moved ahead for the second day this week to close at 463.9 points, a level it has not exceeded since Nov. 4, 2006. Going up by 1.1 percent, the index added 4.8 extra points. However, despite the index’s rise yesterday, the market turnover declined by 9.4 percent to SR4 billion ($1.1 billion).

Despite the fact that two sectors, the Insurance and Services sectors lost 37.7 and 23.1 points, respectively, the index went up due to the increase in the share price of the leading stock, SABIC. SABIC, a constituent of the Industrial sector, was the reason for the Industrial sector succeeding in gaining 17.1 points. The Agricultural sector also improved its performance, by a marginal 0.1 percent.

Twenty three stocks in the index closed on a negative note, with the worst performing stock being Malath Insurance.