JEDDAH/RIYADH: The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) on Tuesday reached its highest level since January 2008 with 11,209 points.
The market index has witnessed a gradual rise since the beginning of the year, reaching about 2,500 points or 28.7 percent. The optimism in the market is also attributed to the rising oil prices following the easing of global COVID-19 restrictions and OPEC+ deal.
“The Tadawul index is benefitting today from many factors including the increase in the number of listed companies over the past 5 years and the rising investor confidence as the Kingdom is recovering from the pandemic,” said Faiz Alhomrani, a financial market analyst told Arab News. “The market today also benefited from the strong results of the banking and petrochemical sectors.”
Alhomrani also said that the increase in the oil prices also supported the markets as it is an indicator of increased government spending, adding that Tadawul might hit new highs around 13-14,000 points but this might take two years.
Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan recently said the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the Kingdom is very much under control.
Fitch Ratings also recently confirmed the long-term rating of Saudi Arabia at “A” with a change in the future outlook to stable, and Capital Economics raised its forecast for the growth of the Saudi economy from 2.2 percent to 4.8 percent during the current year, and from 4.1 percent to 6.3 percent in 2022.
Tadawul had recorded its highest level on Sept. 9, 2014 session at 11,160 points, and the market's rise at that time came after the approval of the Saudi Cabinet to open the stock market to qualified foreign financial institutions, according to Argaam.
