Saudi stocks recover from 3 year low rise by 1.3

(MENAFN- Arab News) JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia's Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) gained 1.3 percent on Tuesday reversing Monday's declines that had dragged it to a three-year low.

TASI rose by 85.26 points to close at 6771.53 points. The index has however lost 18.74 percent this year.
The value of traded shares exceeded SR5 billion with a volume of 260 million shares.
All sectoral indices ended in the green territory. Media and Publishing index made the largest gains rising by 8.88 percent.
Media and Publishing Index has jumped by 45.8 percent this year.
The shares of Saudi Research and Marketing Group (SRMG) continued their gains rising by 10 percent to SR52.25.
The shares rose by 9.8 percent to SR47.50 on Monday from the previous close of SR43.26.
On Monday the SRMG board held a meeting in Riyadh headed by the new board Chairman Prince Badr bin Abdullah.
The meeting was attended by SRMG CEO Azzam Al-Dakhil and other board members including Ahmed bin Aqail Al-Khatib Mohaideen Saleh Kamil Abdulaziz Hamad Al-Fahad Abdulrahman Hamad Al-Rashid Adil Marzouq Al-Nasir Turki Omar Buqshan Abdullah Husain Al-Amoudi Majid Abdulrahman Al-Eisa and Salih Abdulaziz Al-Marzouq.
Also on Tuesday Saudi Printing and Packaging Company's stocks gained 9.62 percent to SR26.20.
The shares of Thihama Advertising and Publishing Company saw its shares rising by 1.38 percent to SR28.60.
Although TASI gained strength on Tuesday the benchmark index fell 1.2 percent on Monday to a three-year low of 6686 points. Selling intensified as Brent prices fell below $37.
The Petrochemical Index gained 0.25 percent on Tuesday as oil prices rebounded by 1 percent on Tuesday halting a slide to 11-year lows.
Brent was up 40 cents at $38.32 a barrel by 1555 GMT. It came within 14 cents of snapping its December 2008 low of $36.20 on Monday.
WTI was 50 cents higher at $36.81. It fell to $34.53 a day ago hovering above its financial crisis low of $32.40.
'Investors and traders are becoming ultra-cautious to play the local market these days' Basil Al-Ghalayini CEO of BMG Financial Group told Arab News.
He added: The volatility of the oil prices has had its impact on the investors sentiments. Furthermore several rights issues of public companies and planned IPOs have been canceled or delayed until further notice due to market conditions.'
A regional market analyst commented: 'The oil price volatility obviously tests sentiment but it also challenges the relative competitiveness of some of the energy-intensive manufacturing especially petrochemicals. These are volatile times for investors until a clearer narrative emerges.'
James Reeve deputy chief economist and assistant general manager Samba Financial Group told Arab News: 'The Saudi stock market is likely to remain weak until H2 2016. Global markets are expected to be soft but main influence will be oil and petrochemicals prices which will remain weak for much of 2016.'
He added: 'It is clear that foreign activity in the Tadawul remains subdued. Indeed they are net sellers at the moment and this is not a surprise given the above. If you are a foreigner you are unlikely to invest in the Tadawul given the outlook for corporate earnings.'
According to Tadawul data the total value of shares traded for the week ending Thursday (Dec. 10) amounted to SR26.55 billion decreasing by 5.46 percent over the previous week. Total stock market capitalization reached SR1611.36 billion at the end of Dec. 10 decreasing by 3.41 percent over the previous week.
The total value of shares purchased by "Saudi Investors" during this period amounted to SR25.46 billion representing 95.88 percent of total buying activity and sales of SR24.73 billion representing 93.13 percent of total selling activity.
Total ownership of "Saudi Investors" stood at 93.22 percent of total market capitalization as of Dec. 10 representing an increase of 0.18 percent from the previous week.
The total value of shares purchased by "GCC investors" during this period amounted to SR0.381 billion representing 1.43 percent of total buying activity and sales of SR0.674 billion representing 2.54 percent of total selling activity. Total ownership of "GCC investors" stood at 2.44 percent of total market capitalization as of Dec. 10 representing an decrease of 0.02 percent from the previous week.
The total value of shares purchased by "foreign investors" during this period amounted to SR0.714 billion representing 2.69 percent of total buying activity and sales of SR1.15 billion representing 4.33 percent of total selling activity.
Total ownership of "foreign investors" stood at 4.34 percent of total market capitalization as of Dec. 10 2015 representing an decrease of 0.16 percent from the previous week.