Saudi Stock Market continues three-week decline with 900 points lost

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: The series of losses in the Saudi Stock Market continued into its third week where the TASI broke the 8200 Points amid modest Trading volume, the lowest since mid 2006.

The index has now accumulated losses of 900 points (10 per cent of its total value) since July 25, 2008. The financial ratios of listed companies are extremely attractive, especially after the latest losses where the multiples of the large-cap stocks vary between 10 and 15.

The ongoing dispute between Iran and the West about Iran's nuclear program and the shortfalls in regional stock markets may have pushed investors towards waiting on the sidelines until the market stabilizes instead of taking advantage of the discounted prices.

Moreover, the setbacks in central and eastern Asian markets may have also been a factor in the recent losses by attracting the capital of investors that are looking to diversify their portfolios, further depressing liquidity in the regional stock markets.

Tadawul All Share Index registered 8188.30 points on August 13 closing, down by 3.1 per cent from last week. As of today, TASI is 25.8 per cent lower than year start. Trading value reached SAR 21.3 Billion, up against last week's SAR 20.7 Billion. "MA'ADEN" dominated trading value at 14 per cent followed by "SABIC" at 10 per cent and "NSCSA" at 6 per cent.

The first five top companies in the past week were: SAAB Takaful Co. 18.9 per cent, the National Co. for Glass Industries 7.9 per cent, the Company for Cooperative Insurance 6.9 per cent, Allied Cooperative Insurance 5.7 per cent and Arabian Pipes Co. 5.0 per cent.

The highest rate of decline in the past week was as follows: the National Shipping Co. of Saudi Arabia -25.6 percent, Al Ahsa Development Co. -11.3 per cent, United International Transportation Co. -11.0 per cent, Al Ujain Corp -10.8 per cent and Filing & Packing Materials Manufacturing Co. -10.6 per cent.