JEDDAH, 13 November 2007 — After falling slightly on Sunday, the Saudi stock market rebounded with a gain of over 100 points yesterday. The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) closed 1.11 percent higher at 9,174.70. The index has surged 15.65 percent so far this year after plunging over 52 percent in 2006.
The industrial index increased 2.95 percent to 23,893.79. Shares of Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) jumped 4.07 percent to SR166 yesterday and 51.54 percent this year.
In the banking sector, shares of Saudi Hollandi Bank dropped by 2.65 percent to SR55 and Arab National Bank by 2.10 percent to SR93. SABB and Al-Rajhi Bank shares fell by 0.63 percent and 0.50 percent, respectively. Shares of the telecom companies continued to drop yesterday. Saudi Telecom Co. (STC) shares declined by 0.70 percent to SR70.75 and Etihad Etisalat by 71.75.
In the insurance sector, shares of Allied Cooperative Insurance Group soared 9.95 percent to SR113.25 and Saudi Arabian Cooperative Insurance Co. by 7.59 percent to SR109.75.
Shares of Saudi Industrial Development Co. dropped 6.54 percent to SR25.
The stock market turnover was over SR7.77 billion yesterday.
Meanwhile, representatives from the Capital Market Authority (CMA), the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and Tadawul took part in a discussion on the future of Saudi stock market at Abha Palace Hotel yesterday.
The discussion was part of a seminar titled “Capital Market: A Futuristic View” organized by King Khaled University in Abha. Experts from Tadawul explained features of the new exchange system, which was introduced recently.
According to a report by the Kuwait-based Global Investment House (Global), the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) stock markets witnessed strong growth in October due to increased buying interest by the retail as well as institutional investors.
The strong rally in the region can be seen from the fact that four out of the six regional indices recorded double-digit gains during the month, led by UAE, which recorded a whopping monthly growth of 20.2 percent.
Kuwait market bucked the trend as it ended the month in red, down 1.6 percent. As a result of this late rally in the region, all the markets are showing positive YTD growth with Omani index leading the way with the YTD growth of 43.7 percent.
GCC bourses saw 39.2 billion shares being traded in October as compared to 21.7 billion shares traded in the previous month. Value of shares traded on the bourses increased to $71.8 billion in October as compared to $61.3 billion in September.
The UAE market saw huge volumes as the aggregate volume traded on the UAE bourses jumped to reach 27.7 billion shares in October as compared to 10.9 billion shares traded in the previous month.
The Global report said the breadth of GCC stock markets was highly skewed toward advancers in October as 358 stocks registered monthly gains as compared to 151 decliners. The strong buying interest was seen in the UAE market as only 12 stocks ended the month in the negative territory.
SABIC Keeps BMG Index Higher
The BMG Saudi Index surged yesterday’s session on the back of SABIC’s share price, thus bringing the index to a significant 3 percent increase from its previous close to reach 516.4 points. The market turnover, however, declined by 29.5 percent to reach SR2.9 billion ($769 million), versus SR4.1 billion ($1.1) registered on the previous session. The sectors closed in yesterday’s session on a mixed note. The industrial sector climbed by 3.4 percent and the services sector gained strength by moving upward by 1.8 percent. Conversely, the agricultural sector went down by 0.7 percent, with none of its constituents witnessing gains, while the insurance sector decreased by 0.9 percent. Yesterday, 18 shares went down, while only 5 went up and 7 remained unchanged. The best performing share was Emaar the Economic City, with 4.10 percent increase to share price of SR19. The worst performing share was Tihama Advertising and Public Relations Co., a constituent of the services sector, which dropped by 2.9 percent to SR42 per share.
