JEDDAH, 21 November 2005 — Saudi stocks continued to slide yesterday as the index fell below 16,000 points. The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) closed at 15,960.99, down 95.12 points from Saturday’s closing.
The Banking index surged slightly at 39,719.24 as bank stocks showed mixed performance yesterday. The Saudi Investment Bank shares jumped 7.07 percent to close at SR1,090, followed by Banque Saudi Fransi by 1.37 percent at SR1,425.50 and Saudi Hollandi Bank by 0.70 percent at SR1,009.
However, shares of Riyad Bank, Arab National Bank, Samba Financial Group, Al-Rajhi Banking & Investment Corp. and Bank Albilad fell.
In the Industrial sector, fall in shares of major companies such as Saudi Basic Industries Corp., Saudi Arabia Fertilizers Co., Filing & Packing Materials Manufacturing Co., Arabian Industrial Development Co., Alujain, Zamil Industrial and Almarai pulled the index down by 461.98 points at SR39,594.53 yesterday.
The Cement index was lower at 8,714.35 as shares of all companies declined yesterday.
Despite increase in share prices of major companies such as Saudi Land Transport Co., Saudi Hotels & Resort Areas Co., Jarir Marketing Co. and Al Mawashi Al Mukairish United Co., the Services index was lower at 5,375.82 yesterday.
Saudi Electricity Co. shares edged lower by 2.08 percent yesterday to close at SR141.50.
In the Telecom sector, shares of Saudi Telecom Co. and Etihad Etisalat fell yesterday to SR904.75 and SR704.50, respectively.
The Insurance index was also down at 2,025.19 points as shares of the National Company for Cooperative Insurance dropped yesterday to SR730.
In the Agriculture sector, shares of Saudi Fisheries and Jouff Agriculture rose while other companies recorded fall in prices.
Out of 77 shares traded, 55 were down while only 22 were trading higher. Over SR22 billion worth of shares changed hands yesterday.
Meanwhile, the National Commercial Bank (NCB) participated in the Saudi stock market forum which was opened yesterday by Riyadh Governor Prince Salman. The forum being held at King Fahd Culture Center in the capital, will end on Nov. 23. A number of Saudi economic policy makers, stock market experts and economists are taking part.
Abdulkareem Abu AlNasr, NCB’s general manager, indicated that the Saudi stock market forum aims to clarify the influential factors in the market and the roles of electronic and Internet facilities in promoting the market. It will also discuss the importance of learning and training in the field.
Abu AlNasr said NCB’s participation in the forum was an opportunity to know the future needs of the market.
The general manager said the forum was the result of increasing demand for Saudi stocks in light of the large economic surge happening in the Kingdom as a result of rising oil prices, increase in size of exports and growth in corporate profits. “The Kingdom’s stock market is considered the largest in the Arab world,” he added.
According to the information received here from Dubai yesterday, Shuaa Capital, the leading UAE-based financial investment company, announced the end of a successful initial subscription period for the two recently launched investment products managed by its Asset Management Group: Kuwait Gateway Fund and Maha High Income Fund.
“We are delighted with the investor response to these two products. Including these funds, Shuaa Capital currently manages nine regional funds and has over 8 billion dirhams in client assets under management”, stated Haissam Arabi, managing director — Asset Management Group at Shuaa Capital.
Kuwait Gateway Fund and Maha High Income Fund are open-ended investment funds and have monthly liquidity. Investors wishing to subscribe to either fund may do so at the beginning of each month.
Shuaa Capital applies its expertise in regional financial markets to manage its existing products and to maintain its position as a leader in the growing asset management industry in the region. Shuaa Capital is planning to launch additional investment funds in the near future.
