Tadawul: Media and real estate stocks stay in the limelight

10/05/2014 06:09 AST

After spending a couple of flat sessions, Saudi Arabia’s benchmark Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) achieved 42 points gain on Thursday.

The index closed up by 0.43 percent to finish at 9,787.03, reflecting a double top. TASI also logged a healthy YTD return of 14.66 percent.

All market cap indices ended in the safe area. Most of the major sectors closed in the green territory, accumulating an aggregate of 719 points. Only Cement, Industrial Investment and Telecom sectors could not manage for gains, going down a little and losing 66 points collectively.

Media and Publishing with an upward jump of 1.73 percent remained prominent among sectoral indices, closing the day at 4,590.04. Real Estate Development sector was another significant gainer, which advanced 111.6 points or 1.68 percent.

Most of heavyweights extended gains, with Riyad Bank outdid rest of its peers, growing over two percent to SR37.47. The bellwether SABIC (Saudi Basic Industries Corp.) closed the day up 0.67 percent. Advancing stocks outnumbered decliners by a margin of 74 to 50 and the prices of 36 companies remained unchanged.

Amana Cooperative Insurance topped the performance chart at Tadawul, surging by 6.76 percent to SR37.86. Furthermore, Dallah Healthcare Holding Company rose by 4.18 percent and Bupa Arabia for Cooperative Insurance 4.0 percent. Both companies’ shares raced to a new all-time high.

Trading activity was led by Dar Alarkan Real Estate Development Company, which liquidated roughly 75 million shares, a relative market share of 21.4 percent. The value of these shares reached over one billion Riyals, which equates 9.5 percent of total market liquidity.

Market activity remained 5 to10 percent greater than previous level.

More than 348.9 million shares worth SR10.6 billion changed hands on the Saudi stock market. The 50-day average for trading turnover is closer to 333.7 million shares worth SR9.8 billion.

Arab News