The total value of shares traded for the week ending 24 March 2016 on Tadawul Stock Exchange amounted to SR29.90 billion, increasing by 12.54% over the previous week; while total stock market capitalization reached SR1,457.41 billion at the end of this period, decreasing by 0.99% over the previous week. The total value of shares purchased by "Saudi Investors" during this period amounted to SR28.74 billion representing 96.13% of total buying activity, and sales of SR28.67 billion representing 95.89% of total selling activity. Total ownership of "Saudi Investors" stood at 93.14% of total market capitalization as of March 24, representing a decrease of 0.08% from the previous week. The total value of shares purchased by "GCC Investors" during this period amounted to SR0.423 billion representing 1.41% of total buying activity, and sales of SR0.464 billion representing 1.55% of total selling activity. Total ownership of "GCC Investors" stood at 2.53% of total market capitalization as of March 24, representing an increase of 0.04% from the previous week. The total value of shares purchased by "Foreign Investors" during this period amounted to SR0.733 billion representing 2.45% of total buying activity, and sales of SR0.767 billion representing 2.56% of total selling activity. Total ownership of "Foreign Investors" stood at 4.32% of total market capitalization as of March 24, representing an increase of 0.04% from the previous week. Holding value of an acquisition (SR360,331,000) was not deposited as of March 24. The Saudi index fell 1.0 percent as Saudi Cement, which went ex-dividend on Sunday, tumbled 7.4 percent. Saudi Telecom sank 4.3 percent as telecoms shares continued sliding, after a Gulf Cooperation Council official said on Thursday that the six-nation bloc would cut roaming charges for making and receiving calls and sending text messages by an average 40 percent from April 1. Elsewhere, Egypt's stock market edged up in early trade on Sunday after central bank Governor Tarek Amer said he had pumped $22 billion into the banking system to clear goods piled at ports, while Saudi Arabia's bourse fell on weak cement and telecommunications shares. Amer's remarks on Saturday were taken as a positive sign that authorities were taking aggressive action to ease Egypt's hard currency shortage, though he did not give details of where he was obtaining the money or how he would resolve the shortage in the long term. The Egyptian index climbed 0.4 percent in the opening 50 minutes of trade, buoyed by property developers such as Emaar Misr, which added 2.6 percent. But Arabian Cement dropped 2.2 percent after reporting a 26 percent fall in 2015 consolidated net profit. Commercial International Bank (CIB) slipped a further 1.1 percent; it had dropped 1.3 percent on Thursday after the central bank placed a time limit on the tenures of chief executives of commercial lenders, a decision which is expected to force managers including CIB's Hisham Ezz al-Arab to resign their positions. — SG/Agencies
