15/01/2011
TASI gaining 0.3 % closing at 6,717.18 points
Saudi stocks continue their upward trend last week deriving momentum from steady crude prices and expectations of good annual results mainly for the petrochemical sector.
The Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) of the Arab world’s largest bourse gained 0.3 per cent on weekly basis, closing at 6,717.18 points.The liquidity for the week came in at SR18.74 billion as compared to SR16.49 billion for the past week.
On a week-to-week basis, the sector activity was mostly positive with 12 out of 15 sectors closing with gains ranging from 0.21 percent by the Energy & Utilities sector to 4.11 percent by the Industrial Investment sector. On the other hand the losing sectors for the week ranged from -0.30 percent by the Building & Construction sector to -0.75 by the Banks & Financial Services sector, the Financial Transaction House said in its weekly market commentary.
“The results published so far have sent positive signals to the market about the performance of the petrochemical, retail and cement sectors,” Saudi analyst Abdul Hamid Omari said.
TASI apparently also came under pressure from the denial of reports that foreigners would be allowed to trade directly at the Saudi stock market.
“This issue is not under discussion at least in the short term,” Chairman of the Saudi Capital Market Authority Abdul Rahman Tuwajri said.
The GulfBase GCC Index dropped slightly last week to close at 4,203.90 points. The value of GCC traded stocks surged 15.82 percent to $6.90 billion and volume rose by 22.03 percent to 3.27 billion of shares.
