By Mohamed Abu Meleeh
Riyadh - Mubasher: The Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) extended its gains for the second successive week, ahead of a number of major decisions, thus recouping more than half of the losses incurred from geopolitical and global factors.
The benchmark index TASI ended the week 3.36% or 301.08 points higher at 9251 points; the first time to end above the 9000 mark in four weeks.
Accordingly, the market gained 5.84% in the last two weeks, erasing more than the losses – a 10.19% fall in the preceding three weeks – which were seen on the backdrop of some geopolitical events mainly the military action against Houthi rebels in Yemen.
The board of Saudi Arabia’s market regulator CMA announced on Thursday that the Tadawul will be open to foreign investment starting 15 June.
Final rules governing the opening for direct foreign investment will be published on 4 May and will be applicable as of 1 June, the market regulator added.
The move follows last year’s decision from the Saudi cabinet which allowed the CMA to open the stock market for foreign financial institutions to buy and sell shares directly.
Jadwa for Investment said, in a report, that despite the fall in Saudi stock market during March, it will likely rebound in April backed by opening up for direct foreign investment.
Tadawul’s capitalisation amounted to SAR 2 trillion by the end of the week; thus bringing market gains during the last two weeks to SAR 113.6 billion, or 6.01%.
Most sectors moved higher during the week, topped by energy (+10.2%), then industrial investment (+6.88%). Banks and petrochemical industries also gained 4.13% and 2.24% in a row. Meanwhile, real estate development was the sole decliner (-0.63%).
Turnover also increased to SAR 39.6 billion, up 17.5% from figures a week earlier. Traded volume rose 7.7% to 1.5 billion shares.
Out of the 162 companies traded during the week, 142 headed north spearheaded by Al-Alamiya Insurance (+17.7%) and Advanced Petrochemical (+14.7%). Meanwhile, the remaining twenty stocks that headed south were led by Rajhi Takaful (-4.49%) and Jabal Omar (-4.47%).
The market’s biggest ten companies by capitalisation were mostly in green, as SABIC rose 1.34% and NCB gained 5.59%, while Jabal Omar was the only to shut in red.
Translated by Sayed Abdel Rahman
