The stock market has registered a 16.57 percent gain so far this year. The surge in petrochemical and banking stocks lifted the Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) 1.4 percent or 106.35 points, its biggest gain since Sept. 17, to 7,481.27. The volume of traded shares reached 551 million, compared with a six-month daily average of 290 million.
The value of traded shares exceeded SR13.40 billion yesterday compared to SR64.75 billion for the whole of last week.
On the market's consistent positive trend, Sami A. Al-Nwaisir, chairman of the board of Alsami Holding Group, said: “The market has been moving forward due to the pragmatic fiscal and monetary policy such as new legislation to open up the market to foreign companies.”
However, Omar Al-Juraifani, a Saudi financial and economic analyst based in the Eastern Province, told Arab News: “The investor is shifting from real estate to the stock market because the realty sector is not giving the same returns as it used to in the past.”
The reason for that is the inflationary trend in the real estate market has jacked up prices, which are unjustifiable and investors feel that "such crazy prices have eroded the purchasing power," he added.