JEDDAH: The Saudi stock market’s decline continued to an eighth consecutive trading day yesterday. The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) fell 6.26 points after falling over 107 points on Saturday after Tadawul announced new transparency rule which will be effective from Aug. 16.
The market may be heading for more sell-off because of the new rule to disclose names of investors with stakes of 5 percent or more.
Out of 124 companies traded, shares of 58 companies increased while 40 firms were in the red. Over SR4.2 billion worth of shares changed hands yesterday.
Tadawul also announced the stock market performance report for the month of July. According to the Tadawul’s statistical report, at the end of July TASI closed at 8,740.74 points, which is 611.58 points or 6.54 percent lower than the previous month.
On an YTD basis TASI lost 2,297.92 points or 20.82 percent. Highest close level for the index during the month was 9,517.32 as on July 7.
The report said total equity market capitalization at the end of July reached SR1.70 trillion ($452.11 billion), decreasing by 4.46 percent over the previous month. The total value of traded shares for the month of July fell by 26.88 percent to SR163.30 billion ($43.55 billion). The total number of shares traded reached 4 billion shares for July compared to 6.42 billion shares traded in June, decreasing by 37.63 percent. The total number of transactions in July dropped 18.30 percent to reach at 5.55 million compared to 6.80 million trades in June.
There were three new listings in July. On July 14, Abdullah Al-Othaim Markets Co. was listed with a paid up capital of SR225 million divided into 22.5 million shares. The company offered 6.75 million shares at SR40 per share.
Halwani Bros Co. was listed on July 16 with a paid up capital of SR285,714,300 divided into 28,571,430 shares. The company offered 8,571,430 shares at SR20 per share.
Saudi Arabian Mining Co. (Maaden) was listed on July 27 with a paid up capital of SR9.25 billion divided into 925 million shares. The company offered 462.50 million shares at SR20 per share.
There were also three initial public offerings (IPOs) in July. Maaden offered 462.50 million shares, 50 percent of its issued shares, at a price of SR20 per share from July 5 to July 14.
Astra Industrial Group Company offered 22,235,294 shares, 30 percent of its issued shares, at a price of SR42 per share from July 26.
Tadawul also announced that Mobile Telecommunication Company Saudi Arabia (Zain KSA) was included in TASI as the stock close price on July 2.
In another corporate news, Middle East Specialized Cables Co. (MESC) increased its paid up capital by issuing one bonus share for every four shares held, raising its total number of issued shares to 40 million effective July 16.
Nama Chemicals Co. increased its paid up capital by offering 52.02 million new shares (rights issue) at a price of SR15 per share (SR10 as nominal value and SR5 as a premium), raising its total number of issued shares to 128.52 million from July 26. The Tadawul report said percentage share of Saudi nationals from the market trades was 91.3 percent for selling which is SR149.12 billion and 89.7 percent for buying which is SR146,53 billion. The percentage share of Saudi companies from the market trades was 2.9 percent for selling which is SR4.74 billion and 4 percent for buying which is SR6.51 billion.
The percentage share of investment funds from the market trades was 2.4 percent for selling which is SR3.99 billion and 1.8 percent for buying which is SR3.02 billion. The percentage share of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nationals from the market trades was 1.8 percent for selling which is SR2.86 billion and 2.7 percent for buying which is SR4.42 billion. The percentage share of Arab residence in Saudi Arabia from the market trades was 1.5 percent for selling which is SR2.42 billion and 1.6 percent for buying which is SR2.64 billion. The percentage share of foreigners residence in Saudi Arabia from the market trades was 0.1 percent for selling which is SR172.77 million and 0.1 percent for buying which is SR184.32 million.
BMG index down
The BMG Saudi Index maintained its negative performance for the second successive trading session, ending yesterday’s session at 470.44 points, down by 0.3 percent. The total turnover also fell by 22.6 percent to reach SR1.4 billion ($373 million), compared to SR1.8 billion ($482 million) registered in Saturday’s trading session.
Four sectors appreciated, whilst one stood still and two depreciated.
Fifteen shares ascended, whereas 10 descended. MESC was the session’s best performer, growing by 5.1 percent to SR103 per share. The worst performer, however, was Arabia Insurance Cooperative Company, falling by 5.9 percent to SR28.00. The leading shares, Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) and Al-Rajhi Bank, ended the session on a mixed note, with Al-Rajhi Bank improving by 0.9 percent to SR81.75, whilst SABIC fell by 1.9 percent to 126.50 per share.
