Saturday 30 April 2011

Saudi Stock Market close - April 30, 2011

General Index
Intraday 3 month
Daily Statistics
Date30/04/2011
General Index6710.56
Change (%)-0.20%
Change-13.70
T. Volume257183852
T. Companies 149
Advanced51
Declined76
Unchanged19
UnTraded3


Tunisian economy to grow 1-2 pct in 2011: cenbank | Reuters

Tunisia's economy will grow by only 1-2 percent this year because of continuing uncertainty, the central bank governor said in remarks published on Friday.

Mass protests toppled the former president, Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, in January and Central Bank Governor Mustapha Kamel Nabli repeated his view that weak growth could threaten the transition to democracy.

"The fundamental problem is in the situation of uncertainty and lack of confidence prevailing in the country," the official TAP news agency quoted Nabli as saying. "This leads to a wait-and-see attitude on the part of companies and also consumers who keep their savings."

Saudi Shares Rise for Seventh Day as Oil Climbs, Greenback Drops - Bloomberg

Saudi Arabian shares rallied for a seventh day, sending the benchmark Tadawul All Share Index to its highest level in almost three months as oil climbed and the U.S. currency fell.

Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC), the world’s largest petrochemicals maker, and Yanbu National Petrochemical Co., Sabic’s unit known as Yansab, paced the gains. The 146-company measure rose 0.4 percent to 6,752.31 at 12:06 p.m. in Riyadh, the gauge’s highest intraday level since Jan. 18. Six shares climbed for every stock that fell.

“Further weakening in the U.S. dollar is expected to lift crude prices, which bodes well for Saudi equities,” said Asim Bukhtiar, an equity analyst at Riyad Capital.

Azerbaijan: Can Baku Emerge as Middle Eastern Energy Supplier? | EurasiaNet.org

Could turmoil in the Middle East provide a market opportunity for Azerbaijan’s state-run energy company SOCAR? A pending energy deal with Jordan could open the way for the company’s aggressive expansion into Arab markets.

After a February pipeline explosion cut its gas imports from Egypt for more than a month, Jordan, which imports almost all of its energy resources, decided to diversify its suppliers, the government-run Petra news agency reported earlier this month. Loss of the Egyptian gas cost Jordan about $28 million a week after it changed suppliers, according to the country’s Energy Ministry.

Enter Azerbaijan. An April 14 protocol on economic cooperation between Azerbaijan and Jordan includes a framework for discussions about the export of an unspecified amount of Azerbaijani crude oil and natural gas to Jordan.