JEDDAH, 27 June 2007 — Shares of the Arabian Shield Cooperative Insurance Company (ASCIC) jumped 537.50 percent on the first day of trading on Tadawul yesterday. This is the 6th company to be traded in the insurance sector which was earlier dominated by the National Company for Cooperative Insurance (NCCI).
Other insurance companies, which made debut this month, also made solid starts. Shares of Saudi IAIC Insurance Cooperative Co., (Salama) soared 500 percent and SABB Takaful shares rose 497.50 percent.
Malath Cooperative Insurance and Reinsurance Co. shares soared 342.50 percent on debut on the Tadawul in May.
Shares of SABB Takaful, however, rose 10 percent to SR126.55 and Salama by 6.53 percent to SR77.50 yesterday. NCCI shares also rose to SR99.25.
ASCIC offered 8,000,000 shares at a par value of SR10 per share in an initial public offering in March. ASCIC shares opened at SR62 and reached as high as SR67 and low of SR51 before closing at SR63.75 yesterday.
Over SR1.66 billion worth of ASCIC shares changed hands on the first day of trading.
The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) also edged higher by 9.4 points to 7,111.55 yesterday. Out of 93 stocks traded, shares of 37 companies gained while 36 companies showed decline in value.
The stock market turnover also exceeded SR8 billion yesterday.
Khaled Al-Amri, a technical analyst, said the market made nearly 30 percent profit. “People who observe the market from away think that the market is not making any profit but those who follow up the market closely can see that some stocks, especially speculative ones, make profits up to 30 percent,” he added
In the banking sector shares of Samba Financial Group, SABB and Bank AlJazira declined yesterday. Shares of the Saudi Investment Bank (SAIB) made solid gain of 4.46 percent to SR41.
Despite Samba’s announcement on the Tadawul website that it will pay SR1.084 billion dividend for the first half of 2007, its shares fell 0.97 percent to SR127 yesterday.
Shares of Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) rose slightly to SR112.50 and Al-Babtain Power and Telecommunication Co. by 5.47 percent to SR72.25.
Shares of Tourism Enterprise Co. (Shams) fell 4.78 percent to SR54.75 and Saudi Vitrified Clay Pipes Co. by 3.21 percent to SR113.25 yesterday.
After the Capital Market Authority’s (CMA’s) approval of Saudi Electricity Co. (SEC) to raise SR5 billion in bonds, SEC’s shares gained 2.22 percent to SR11.50 yesterday.
Abdullah Al-Kuwair, a financial analyst, said the listing of small companies on the bourse would strengthen the position of speculators and help them make quick gains.
“Speculative trading is found in all markets but there is so much of exaggeration about it in the Saudi market,” he said.
