RIYADH, 18 January 2008 — The BMG Saudi Index continued the uptrend which started last week, albeit with a marginal increase of 0.6 percent over the week and ending the week at 660.3 points.
The total weekly turnover experienced a 5.8 percent rise from the previous week, reaching SR29.6 billion ($7.9 billion) over the week’s trading, versus the previous week’s SR28 billion ($7.5 billion). The average P/E ratio for 2006 earnings was 31.17 times, whereas the price-to-book ratio was 6.32 times.
Most of the sectors in the Index gained points. The Services sector was the best performer, advancing by 7.8 percent and ending the week at 1,014.9 points. The Agricultural sector followed, rising by 1.1 percent and ending the week at 727.3 points.
The lowest rise seen over the week was the Industrial sector, with a rise of 0.3 percent to 1,554.2 points. The Insurance sector was the only negative performer, for another week, going down by 4.9 percent to 934.4 points.
Regarding the allocation of turnover for each sector, the Industrial sector’s shares registered an increase to reach approximately SR19.8 billion ($5.3 billion), indicating 66.8 percent of the total market turnover, while the value of trades in the shares of the Services sector reached SR5.4 billion ($1.5 billion), representing 18.4 percent of the total weekly turnover. The Insurance sector was the lowest in terms of the total turnover, with SR1.9 billion ($0.5 billion) of the total Index’s turnover.
Malath Cooperative Insurance and Reinsurance Company was the worst performer over the week, again, with a percentage loss of 7.7 percent, closing at SR129.25 per share. The best performer, once again, was Saudi Kayan Petrochemicals.