JEDDAH: The Saudi stock market moved relatively in horizontal directions on Tuesday after falling to a 10-week low on Monday. The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) closed 0.93 percent or 50.40 points higher at 5,457.71 after reaching high of 5,471.71 and low of 5,407.31 points.
Sector activity was mainly positive, with losses in only two sectors, namely Retail and Real Estate Development losing 0.49 percent and 0.96 percent respectively. Sector gains on the other hand ranged from 4.29 percent for the Insurance to 0.17 percent for Hotel & Tourism.
Overall market breadth was positive, with 99 advancers and 21 decliners giving an AD ratio of 4.71, the Jeddah-based Financial Transaction House (FTH) said.
The stock market turnover was over SR3.70 billion on Tuesday.
SABB Takaful was the top gainer as its shares jumped 10 percent to SR96.25. The other gainers were Alahli Takaful Co. (9.97 percent), Saudi Fransi Cooperative Insurance Co. (9.55 percent) and The Mediterranean & Gulf Insurance & Reinsurance Co. (6.87 percent).
Dar Alarkan Real Estate Development Co. shares dropped 3.72 percent to close at SR25.90.
“TASI continues to be technically supported by the 200 days simple moving average at 5,329 signaling a bullish yet cautious trend ahead,” the FTH said in its market commentary. Shares in Saudi Electricity Co. (SEC) increased slightly to SR9.35 as Tadawul announced that the second issue of SEC Sukuk have been deposited into applicable investor’s portfolios on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Tadawul, which accounts for nearly half of the entire market capitalization and nearly three quarters of the entire value traded of all GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) stock exchanges, and Dow Jones Indexes, a leading global index provider, signed an agreement on Tuesday under which Dow Jones Indexes becomes the first international index provider authorized by Tadawul to offer indexes on the Saudi market.
According to information available on Tadawul website, Dow Jones Indexes is authorized to use real-time Tadawul prices and other data to create indices, which may measure the performance of the Saudi stock market and may serve as the underlying for third-party investment products such as mutual funds, ETFs and other financial products that enable investors to participate in the performance of the Saudi stock market.
Tadawul CEO Abdullah Suweilmy said: “We are delighted that Dow Jones Indexes is now positioned to set new standards for both performance and investible indexes in Saudi Arabia and the region, and provide reliable underlying tools for financial management to the domestic and international investment communities.
Asset managers can now securely deal with an authorized and international index provider — Dow Jones Indexes, the first such authorized provider — when using indexes containing Saudi data. We are also delighted that Dow Jones Indexes and Tadawul have agreed to jointly study other ways in which we can work together in the future”.