Tadawul turnover exceeds SR10.4 billion

The Saudi Stock market witnessed a bullish trend on Sunday as the Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) added 39.65 points further to close at 6,869.95 levels. TASI earlier hit 6,813.32 points intra-day low level but later the market witnessed some buying interests, and the index moved into the green zone to hit 6,872.40 points and finally closed near this intra-day high level. On a year-to-date basis TASI crossed a positive return of 7 percent. General perception of the market participants remained positive; total equity turnover at Tadawul increased to SR10.4 billion compared to SR8.9 billion on the previous day, a growth of 15.8 percent. Approximately 445 million shares changed hands, a 25.4 percent increase over its previous daily volume. More than 213,000 transactions took place during the day, an increase of 14.7 percent. The heavyweight SABIC (Saudi Basic Industries Corp.) and NAMA Chemicals appeared to be the most active stocks of the day. A turnover of more than SR559 million was accumulated by SABIC. While, NAMA became the volume leader as it's more than 30.6 million shares were traded during the day. Sector indices at Saudi stock market ended the day with modest gains. Hotel & Tourism moved up 2.75 percent or 195.22 points to end at 7,292.61. Only three sectors including Agriculture & Food Industries - the worst performer (down 0.27 percent) could not manage to stage for a gain. Out of total 149 scrips traded, 86 scrips advanced, 46 declined and 17 remained unchanged. Tourism Enterprise Co. and METHANOL Chemicals Company (CHEMANOL) were key gainers amongst all Saudi stocks. Prices of both rallied to a maximum growth of 10 percent and 9.89 percent respectively. Perhaps, buying intensified after the news that CHEMANOL had recorded substantial yearly gains. It declared an audited net profit of SR70.21 million for financial year 2011 compared with SR6.04 million in 2010, representing an impressive growth of 1,062 percent. Earnings per share amounted to SR0.58 as compared to SR0.05 of the previous year. On the other hand, Weqaya Takaful insurance became the biggest loser of the day, down by 3.3 percent over its previous close price. On Saturday, board of directors of Saudi Pharmaceutical Indus. & Medical Appliances Corp. (SPIMACO) announced a recommended cash dividend of SR156.9 million (SR2 per share) for the year 2011. Herfy Food Services Company (Herfy) announced its annual audited financial results; it achieved a net profit of SR146.6 million for the year ended Dec. 31, 2011, exceeding the previous year's net profit by 17.9 percent. All benchmark indices at GCC stock markets ended the day in green. DFM index performed relatively well, dug in at 1,571.09 and finished the day up over 3.63 percent. Kuwait grabbed 43.6 percent turnover among all GCC countries. Tadawul ranked second which showed a 24.3 percent relative market share on volume basis. GulfBase GCC index closed at 3,908.33 points, reflecting a growth of 0.77 percent from its previous day's level.