07/11/2010
Petrochemicals lift Saudi bourse
Saudi shares rose 1.9 percent, lifted by heavyweight Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) and other petrochemicals after crude prices hit a six-month high.
SABIC jumped 6.1 percent, while the petrochemical index gained 4.2 percent.
Shares in the banking index rose 1.2 percent with Al-Rajhi Bank, the Kingdom’s biggest Islamic lender, adding 1.6 percent.
The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) closed at 6,461.74 points with a gain of 1.9 percent.
The sector activity for the day was all positive except on sector, the Financial Transaction House (FTH) said in its daily market commentary.
Gains ranged from 0.20 percent by the Retail sector to 4.16 percent by the Petrochemical Industries sector. The only losses were in the Real Estate Development, which dropped 0.16 percent. The overall market breadth for the day was positive with 106 advancers against 18 decliners giving it an AD ratio of 5.88, FTH said. The liquidity for the day reached SR4.61 billion.
Oil prices edged higher on Friday, briefly touching two-year highs, as a surprise improvement in the US jobs market boosted the dollar.
