04/07/2010
Shares breaking the barriers down... And liquidity in its lowest levels
The daily report of Saudi market
Saudi shares continued losses for the fifth straight session, closing in red yesterday
The Saudi shares plunged yesterday to break the barriers again during the first week's sessions after recording the index fell to touch 5940 points in the first hour.
The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) closed at 6,033.91 points and the petrochemical index dropped 1.5 percent to 5,217.92 points.
Following are more details:
Saudi shares continued losses for the fifth straight session ;the sector activity for the day remained negative with all sectors closing with losses ranging from 0.075 by the Insurance sector to 1.74 percent by the Hotel & Tourism sector.
Overall market breadth for the day remained strongly negative with only 29 advancers against 102 decliners giving it an AD ratio of 0.284, the Financial Transaction House (FTH) said in its daily market commentary.
Furthermore; the petrochemical sector heavyweight, Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) declined 2.04 percent to SR84 but Saudi Arabian Fertilizers Co. (SAFCO) surged 4.9 percent to SR133.75 after saying that it will pay a dividend of SR6 per share in July.
The stock market turnover was over SR2.43 billion on Saturday. Sanad Insurance & Reinsurance Cooperative Co. was the top gainer on Saturday, as its shares climbed 7.81 percent to SR20.70. Other gainers were Al-Alamiya for Cooperative Insurance Company (up by 7.17 percent), Saudi Industrial Export Co. by (4.49 percent) and Yanbu National Petrochemical Co. by (4.46 percent).
As for SAFCO which rose by 4.09 percent earning 5.25 riyals, in correspondence with announcing its intention to distribute 1.5 billion riyals by six riyals per share, for the first half of this year, to begin distribution through two weeks, which means that the stock yesterday rose by almost the value of distribution.
The Saudi stock market surged 8.89 percent during the first half of this year. According to Tadawul's first half report released on Saturday, at the end of the first half of this year TASI closed at 6,093.76 points, up 497.30 points over the close of the same period of the previous year.
The total value of shares traded reached SR455.71 billion in the first half of this year, decreasing by 41.58 percent over the same period of the previous year. Highest close level for the index during the period was 6,929.40 points as on April 26.
Total equity market capitalization at the end of first half reached SR1.20 trillion, increasing by 11.55 percent over the end of the first half of the previous year.
The total number of shares traded reached 19.62 billion compared to 38.34 billion shares traded during the first half of the previous year, decreasing by 48.83 percent.
The total number of transactions executed during the first half reached 11.66 million compared to 22.63 million trades during the first half of the previous year, decreasing by 48.45 percent.
