JEDDAH, 23 February 2006 — The Saudi stock market kept its upward momentum in yesterday’s trading. The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) jumped 290.52 points to close at a record high of 20,352.21. The index gained 920.89 points in the last five days of trading, attributed mostly to market speculation and YANSAB debut. The index also went up 21.78 percent so far this year.
The market turnover reached SR4046 billion yesterday. Out of 78 stocks traded, 46 were higher while 30 were down.
The Agriculture and Cement Indexes were the only two that edged lower while all other indexes increased yesterday.
The Banking Index rose slightly to 47,205.69 as shares of Al-Rajhi Bank, Samba Financial Group, Saudi Hollandi Bank and Bank Aljazira increased while shares of other banks declined yesterday.
The Industrial Index rose 270.36 points to 48,300.42 as shares of major companies such as Saudi Basic Industries Corp., Almarai Co., Food Products Co., National Gypsum Co. and Savola Group made handsome gains yesterday.
Shares of Yanbu National Petrochemical Co. (YANSAB) continued to fall yesterday and closed at SR516, down 9.95 percent.
In the cement sector, the shares of Qassim Cement went back to its last week performance when it rose in yesterday’s trading along with Tabuk Cement’s shares. The shares of all other cement companies declined yesterday.
The Services Index rose yesterday despite fall in share prices of major companies such as Saudi Hotels & Resort Co., Saudi Real Estate Co., National Agriculture Marketing Co. and Toursim Enterprise Co. The index benefited yesterday from the large trading volume in the shares of Saudi Livestock and Arriyadh Construction. Saudi Electricity Co. shares continued to surge yesterday and closed 9.95 higher at SR243.
In the telecom sector, shares of Saudi Telecom Co. (STC) jumped 4.12 percent to SR1,189 but shares of Etihad Etisalat fell 1.72 percent to SR742.
The Agriculture Index plunged 833.55 points at 13,907.94 as shares of all companies were in the red yesterday.
Meanwhile, Bahrain-based Al Salam Bank announced the successful closure of its initial public offering (IPO), with the issue being oversubscribed over 63 times.
Public subscription opened for residents of UAE and Bahrain on Feb.5 and within two weeks collected an amount in excess of 2.7 billion Bahraini dinars.
The Al Salam Bank IPO was the largest in Bahrain’s history. It offered 35 percent of its paid up capital in the form of 42 million common shares to individual and institutional investors. Subscriptions for a minimum of 1,000 shares were invited at 1.050 dianrs or 10.29 dirhams per share, including service charges. Sixty-five percent of the bank’s capital, estimated at 78 million dinars (760.62 million dirhams), is held by its founders. The founders are Emaar Properties, Amlak Finance, Dubai Investment Group, Dubai Holding, Global Investment House, Lebanese Canadian Bank, Al Salam Bank in Sudan and Aman Insurance and Re-insurance Company plus a large number of establishments, companies and businessmen from Bahrain, UAE and Saudi Arabia.
