RIYADH, 29 May 2006 — Saudi shares edged up yesterday, helped by a rebound in blue chips after recent falls although trade continued to focus on small caps. The all-share index closed 0.52 percent up at 10,226.62 points after it fell below 10,000 points in morning trade but was helped up by a late rally in blue-chip stocks amid quiet bargain-hunting. Turnover reached SR15.43 billion ($4.1 billion) on a volume of 295.35 million shares, mostly small caps. Advancers outnumbered decliners 64 to 12. “Smart money — banks and major private portfolios — is holding on to its blue-chip stocks because at these levels their prices offer no consolation for the crash,” a senior trader said. “In the meantime, retail investors and major speculators are playing with small caps hoping to generate enough profit for the day,” the trader said.
Saudi Arabia Licenses New Investment Bank
RIYADH, 29 May 2006 — Saudi Arabia has given Falcon Financial Services its latest investment banking license as part of a drive to encourage firms outside the banking sector to enter the bank-dominated brokerage business. A Falcon spokesman said the license would allow it to provide fully fledged investment banking services from dealing, arranging, advising and custodial services to investment banking solutions for companies going public. The Capital Markets Authority (CMA) confirmed the license had been issued. CMA is licensing more brokerage firms and investment banks after a crash that has erased more than half of the Saudi bourse’s capitalization since late February.
Saudi Firm Invests $1.07bn in Reem Island
RIYADH, 29 May 2006 — A Saudi firm will invest SR4 billion ($1.07 billion) into Abu Dhabi’s $5.4 billion Reem Island real estate project, making it one of the main investors in the project, company officials said yesterday. Abu Dhabi Towers, wholly-owned by Saudi capital, will spend the amount to purchase 8.9 million sq ft (80 hectares) and build five 40-to-68 storey towers on the island, which will house around 80,000 people once completed in 2012.
German-Saudi Group Sets Up $293m Firm
RIYADH, 29 May 2006 — A German-Saudi consortium will build a 3 million ton per year cement plant at a total cost of SR1.1 billion ($293.3 million), of which 30 percent will be floated, Saudi newspapers reported yesterday. German engineering Cemag Group and Saudi TIG Group signed on Saturday an agreement to build Al Watan Cement plant in Jalajil.
