JEDDAH — Saudi shares closed higher Saturday for the first time in 11 days, supported by gains in the petrochemical sector after oil prices rise and investors' speculation that the holiday shopping season in the US will boost the economy. The stock benchmark Tadawul All Share Index added 0.84 percent to close at 6,665.49 points and the petrochemical index gained 1.1 percent to 5,649 points. Heavyweight Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) closed 0.9 percent higher, as well as the banking index, gaining 0.3 percent and ending at 14,733 points. Etihad Etisalat Co. (Mobily) had the biggest gain in almost three weeks, and Samba Financial Group (Samba), the Kingdom's second-biggest lender, jumped to a one-week high. Mobily increased 1.4 percent to SR72.75, while Samba rose 1.8 percent to SR44.80, the highest level since Nov. 18 on a closing basis. Oil prices rose Friday as fresh protests in Egypt once again stoked supply concerns, with additional support coming from optimism about talks on releasing aid to Greece. “The market was beaten down in the past two weeks which suggests that most negative news has been priced-in and now we are seeing some recovery in stock prices,” Asim Bukhtiar, senior analyst at Riyad Capital, said in an e-mail. “Easing regional tension may be contributing factor but investors are also looking ahead to holiday shopping season in the US, which could raise domestic optimism.” US stocks capped their biggest weekly rally since June on the last day of trading this week as the American holiday shopping season began. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index climbed 1.3 percent on Nov. 23, the best post-Thanksgiving performance since 2007, extending the week's rally to 3.6 percent as President Barack Obama expressed confidence on a budget agreement with Congress and data from China to Germany bolstered optimism about global growth. — SG/Agencies
