JEDDAH, 8 February 2006 — The Saudi stock market continued to surge and stayed in a record territory yesterday. The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) after crossing the 19,500 mark in the morning session closed 100.26 points higher at an all-time high of 19,497.22.
Over SR39 billion worth of shares changed hands yesterday. Out of 77 stocks traded, 45 were up while 28 shares declined.
The Banking Index dropped to 46,926.38 as shares of Bank AlJazira, The Saudi Investment Bank, Samba Financial Group and Bank Albilad edged lower while shares of other banks up slightly.
The Industrial Index was higher by 425.66 points at 47,576.02 yesterday. Shares of the petrochemical giant Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) rose 0.93 percent to SR1,843.
Shares of the Saudi Industrial Services Co. (SISCO) jumped 5.36 percent to SR668 as it announced yesterday that it is one of the founding members of the new Saudi low-budget airline (Sama). SISCO announced that its stake in Sama is 2.67 percent. Sama is expected to launch its service in summer 2006. This is SISCO’s second announcement this week after it said earlier that it got the approval of the Ministry of Finance and the Saudi Ports Authority to construct a fully equipped pier in the free-zone area in Jeddah Islamic Port with a cost of SR1.6 billion ($430 million).
Shares of Arabian Industrial Development Co. soared 6.71 percent to SR620 and Saudi Advanced Industries Co. by 5.45 percent to SR1,471.
The Cement Index rose to 12,559.63 as shares of Southern Cement, Eastern Cement and Tabuk Cement went up yesterday.
In the services sector, Aseer Trading, Tourism & Manufacturing Co. announced that it signed an Islamic financing (Murabaha) agreement with Samba Financial Group. According to the agreement, Aseer will acquire short term financing of SR350 million ($93 million) from Samba to finance its new investment ventures. Samba also singed a contract with Aseer enabling the financial group to study the financial strategies of Aseer’s future investment ventures including Aseer’s possible increase of its SR250 million ($66 million) capital.
However, Aseer’s shares declined yesterday to SR1,620.
Makkah Construction & Development Co. shares jumped 9.97 percent to close at SR1,015 and Tihama Advertising & Public Relations Co. by 7.72 percent to SR642.
The National Agriculture Marketing Co. made an announcement requiring its shareholders to deposit their existing company’s stock certificates in their investment portfolios according to the regulation of the Saudi Capital Market Authority (CMA). Its shares gained 4.51 percent at SR742.
The Telecom Index was also higher yesterday at 7,113.13 as shares of Saudi Telecom Co. and Etihad Etisalat rose 0.08 percent to SR1,189 and 3.87 percent to SR806, respectively.
In the agriculture sector, shares of Saudi Fisheries, Bishah Agriculture and Eastern Agriculture made hefty gains while shares of other companies edged lower yesterday.
