JEDDAH: The Saudi stock market was in positive territory on Saturday driven by the heavyweight Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) which said it has won approval for its Chinese joint venture.
The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) surged 1.09 percent to 5,472.29 points. SABIC shares jumped 4.46 percent after its announcement that Chinese authorities had approved an equally owned joint-venture plant with Sinopec. SABIC shares closed at SR58.50.
Shares in Dar Al-Arkan Real Estate Development Co., Saudi Arabia’s biggest real estate developer, fell 2.65 percent after posting a 10 percent fall in second-quarter net profit. Its shares closed at SR16.50. Saudi Fertilizer Co. (SAFCO) shares gained 3.10 percent despite posting a 60-percent drop in second-quarter profit. The firm proposed a first-half dividend of SR5. Its shares closed on Saturday at SR116.25.
Nonetheless, only two market sectors closed with losses on Saturday, namely the Real Estate and Hotel & Tourism sectors, which were down 0.97 percent and 1.80 percent respectively. On the other hand, sector gains ranged from 0.30 percent in Retail to 2.94 percent in the Petrochemical sector.
Market breadth was positive, with 78 advancers and 36 decliners giving an AD ratio of 2.17, the Jeddah-based Financial Transaction House (FTH) said on Saturday.
“A fairly positive start to the week is encouraging, especially propelled by the SABIC gains, which showed some serious weakness last week.
However, the exceptionally low liquidity is worrying, and although holding above the 5,400 psychological support level is important, it will also be important to maintain this position with a strong support of liquidity, which would only be possible with improved investor confidence,” the FTH said in its daily market commentary.
The value to traded shares was SR3.30 billion on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Capital Market Authority (CMA) announced on Saturday that the listing and trading of Al-Rajhi Company for Cooperative Insurance would commence on Monday within the Insurance Sector, with an unrestricted price limit for the first day of trading only.