JEDDAH, 9 April 2008 — The Saudi stock market continued to surge yesterday. The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) closed 13.40 points higher at 9,423.58 yesterday after gaining 103.11 points on Monday and 227.60 points on Saturday.
According to available information, the initial public offering of Alinma Bank, which opened on Monday, received positive responses and raised about SR2 billion on the first day of subscription.
The stock market turnover was over SR8 billion yesterday.
The Capital Market Authority (CMA) approved on Monday Riyad Bank and Tasnee National Company’s request to increase their capital through a rights issue offering. Riyad Bank shares jumped 5.95 percent to SR84.50 after the announcement yesterday.
Saudi Arabia Fertilizers Co. (SAFCO) shares also edged higher by 3.50 percent to SR192 as the extraordinary general assembly of shareholders approved on Monday the capital increase through bonus shares.
A fluctuation limit of 10 percent, which was announced by Tadawul, will be calculated on the base of SR185.50 as a share price on Tuesday.
The extraordinary general assembly of National Metal Manufacturing and Casting Co. (Maadaniyah) shareholders approved on Monday the capital increase through bonus shares.
The CMA announced on Monday Halwani Bros. initial public offering of 8,571,430 shares representing 30 percent of the company’s total outstanding shares. Portion of the offered shares will be allocated for mutual funds.
The company’s shares will be offered in June once the book-building process is complete.
At the end of the first quarter of this year TASI closed at 9,134.99 points, compared to 7,666.11 points for the same period of the previous year. On an YTD basis TASI lost 2,040.97 points or 18.26 percent. Highest close level for the index during the first quarter was 11,895.47 points on Jan. 12.
Tadawul said in its first quarter report that the market capitalization at the end of the first quarter had increased by 40.26 percent to SR1.67 trillion ($446.57 billion).
The total value of shares traded for the first quarter, however, dropped by 17.46 percent to SR705.28 billion ($188.08 billion).
The total number of shares traded reached 17.76 billion for the first quarter compared to 19.78 billion shares for the same period of the previous year, decreasing by 10.2 percent. The total number of transactions decreased by 26.51 percent to 15.76 million for the first quarter compared to 21.44 million trades for the same period of the previous year.
BMG Index Continues to Rise
The BMG Saudi Index continued to go up yesterday. The index closed at 535.2 points, increasing by 0.4 percent. The market turnover reversed its performance, increasing in the fourth trading session this week by 25.1 percent to a total of SR3.1 billion ($825 million) versus SR2.5 billion ($660 million) traded in Monday’s session.
Most of the sectors followed the index’s uptrend. The insurance sector went up by 3.5 percent, becoming the best performer. The industrial sector followed, going up by 0.7 percent. The services and agricultural sectors improved by 0.4 percent and 0.3 percent respectively. The telecommunications sector declined by 0.4 percent, followed by the banking sector, which slipped by 0.1 percent, and the electricity sector decreased marginally by 0.01 percent.
Seven shares ended the session with an increase, whilst 16 shares recorded losses. The best performer was Saudi Industrial Services Co., moving up by 7.8 percent to SR27.75. Saudi Advanced Industries became the worst performer yesterday as its shares dropped by 4.0 percent to SR24.
The index’s two leading shares, Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) and Al-Rajhi Bank, ended the session on a mixed note, the former appreciating by 1.3 percent to SR160.25, while Al-Rajhi Bank was unchanged at SR85.75 per share.
