23/01/2011
TASI inches down
The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) eased 0.08 percent to 6,652.11 points while the banking index rose 0.3 percent
Saudi Arabia's index closed slightly lower on Saturday, dragged down by petrochemical shares.
The sector activity for the day was mixed with 7 out of 15 suffered losses ranging from 0.03 percent by the Telecommunication & Information Technology sector to 0.87 percent by the Transport sector. On the other hand the gaining sectors ranged from 0.06 percent by the Retail sector to 1.35 percent by the Insurance sector. The overall market breadth for the day was negative with 68 advancers against 57 decliners giving it an AD ratio of 1.19, the Financial Transaction House (FTH) said in its daily market commentary.
The stock market turnover reached SR2.89 billion on Saturday.
The petrochemical index fell 0.8 percent as the bellwether Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) gave up early gains to close 1.17 percent lower at SR106.
Shares in heavyweight Al-Rajhi Bank gained 0.3 percent to SR81.75 after the lender posted on Wednesday a 13.5 percent rise in fourth-quarter net profit, broadly in line with forecasts.
Atheeb Telecom, Saudi Arabia's first partly private fixed-line phone operator, dropped 2.3 percent to SR14.55 after saying it needs a SR600 million rights issue following losses exceeding three quarters of its capital.
"There are several options to decrease the losses. There are proceedings that have to be made and a shareholders meeting that must be set," the firm's Chairman Prince Abdul-Aziz bin Ahmed Al-Saud told Al Arabiya television.
Atheeb's capital is SR1 billion. Its financial year ends on March 31.
The firm said last week its third-quarter net losses more than doubled to SR144 million which it blamed on a loss of revenue amounting to SR656 million due to complications that prevented it from providing its services.
Atheeb has been facing financial challenges since June of last year when its former chief executive resigned after the firm accumulated losses close to 40 percent of its capital, only one year after starting the business.
Atheeb, which focuses mainly on broadband, started commercial operations in June 2009 and competes with state-controlled Saudi Telecom Co., Etihad Etisalat (Mobily), and Zain Saudi.
