Tadawul's five-week gaining streak snapped

25/04/2009 00:00 AST

The Saudi stock market dipped this week following a 32 per cent rise in five straight weeks of gains.

The Tadawul All Share Index (Tasi) was affected this week by the sharp decline in global markets on Monday in addition to the negative results of Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic), which was contrary to analysts expectations as the company suffered losses worth 974 million Saudi riyals (Dh944.78 million) for the first quarter of 2009, compared to losses of 311 million riyals in the fourth quarter of 2008.

And also the remaining financial results of Saudi companies were relatively unimpressive this week as Saudi Telecom Company (STC) reported a net income of 2.48 billion riyals for the first quarter of 2009 compared to 3.02 million riyals in the first quarter of 2008, down 18 per cent.

Furthermore, Etihad Etisalat declared a net income of 480 million riyals for the first quarter of 2009 compared to 326 million riyals in the first quarter of 2008, up by 47 per cent.

However, the market bounced back strongly towards the end of the week, up more than three per cent after investors returned when several stock prices became attractive.

The index closed at 5,216.84 on Wednesday, down 3.0 per cent from last week.

The index has risen 8.6 per cent this year. Trading value reached 34.1 billion riyals, up from last weeks 31.4 billion riyals.

The top five gainers were: Sanad Insurance and Reinsurance Cooperative Co. (31.8 per cent), Astra Industrial Group Co (17.6 per cent) Kingdom Holding Co. (14 per cent) and Arabian Cement Co. (13.8 per cent).

The top five losing firms were: Takaful Co. (-14.9 per cent), Saudi Vitrified Clay Pipe Co. Ltd (-14.4 per cent), Riyad Bank (-11.7 per cent) Arabian Pipes Co. (-11.6 per cent) and Gulf Union Cooperative Insurance Co. (-11.6 per cent).

The Saudi market is expected to be steady as investors are re-evaluating their positions, based on the unexpected negative financial results announced by some joint stock companies, particularly Sabic. But investors are likely to be cautious about the significant rise by speculative stocks in the absence of positive fundamentals for those stocks, an analyst said.

Gulfnews