JEDDAH, 21 August 2005 — An increase of 1,681.43 points or 4.53 percent in the Industrial sector index sent the Saudi stock market soaring yesterday. The Tadawul All Shares Index (TASI) closed 277.07 points or 1.94 percent higher yesterday at 14,590.90 points.
Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC), Saudi Arabia’s largest listed firm in terms of market capitalization, shares closed yesterday at SR1,629.50, up 5.73 percent . The stock closed on Thursday’s at SR1,541.25. Zamil Industrial shares also surged 10 percent yesterday to close at SR525.25.
The Banking index was up 52.88 points at 32,397.38 yesterday. However, the Agriculture sector index plunged 100.38 points at 4,668.72 yesterday.
Out of 77 stocks, 48 were trading higher yesterday while 26 stocks were down
Dr. Abdul Hakim Al-Babtain, an economist, said the market was poised to have a historic upswing in the coming days following the return of many investors and dealers from abroad after enjoying their summer holidays.
“All indicators show that the index would go up further in the coming weeks,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat, a sister publication of Arab News. He said the expected downward fluctuations would not exceed 200 points in the coming 30 days.
However, he said small-scale investors would suffer as a result of their haphazard decisions and deals intending to make quick profits.
Meanwhile, the National Commercial Bank (NCB) has recently introduced a new financial service to its clients whereby they can trade in the Saudi stock market directly from its Beirut Branch starting Aug. 1. Obviously, this will add a competitive edge for NCB and proves that the bank endeavors with best efforts to providing innovative financial solutions to meet its clients’ needs, Ahmed Abu Baker Saleh, head of International Division, said.
Hany Al-Shuwaier, head of Brokerage Services Group affirmed that the aim of launching such service is to provide NCB customers the opportunity to follow the market, manage their investment portfolios and trade while in Beirut.
Al-Shuwaier indicated that the Saudi stock market has grown by 60 percent since the beginning of the year, attributing the growth to several factors, the leading cause being the whole economic conditions in the Kingdom which are supported by the rise in oil prices and the increase of national liquidity.
He extended his optimism on the market performance during the coming period based on the first half published profit results for 70 companies totaling around SR29 billion, recording 46 percent increase over the same period of 2004. The size of NCB stock exchange trading recorded a remarkable increase of around 83 percent during the first half of 2005, Al-Shuwaier added.
NCB had launched its electronic trading in April 2005, which has been widely received. Further, the stock exchange service via the telephone automated banking will be launched very soon, the first service of its kind in the Kingdom.
