Saudi Arabia's Tadawul All Share Index jumped 3.2 percent to 5,200.17 points on Saturday - the first trading day of the week - the highest level since Jan. 7. The index has gained 9.3 percent this year after losing more than half its value in 2008 as oil prices dropped. The market rally was led by banks after Al-Rajhi Bank - the Gulf's largest lender by market value - posted a gain in quarterly profit, as speculation grew that the worst of the credit crisis is over and government measures will help revive the global economy. Al-Rajhi gained the most since Jan.13 after it reported an 8.1 percent increase in quarterly net income mainly on growth in core activities. Al-Rajhi made SR1.73 billion in net profit in the three months to March 31, up from SR1.60 billion in the year-earlier period, the bank said in a statement on the bourse website. Al-Rajhi was the first Saudi lender to announce its first-quarter earnings. Saudi banks have said they were little affected by the global financial crisis. Banks in the Kingdom have moved away from relying on income related to stock market activities since a 2006 bourse crash. Shares of Al-Rajhi are down about 0.4 percent this year, which is below the year-to-date performances of both the banking and financial benchmark index and the main stock index TASI. Al-Rajhi Bank closed 6.28 percent higher and leads gainers among blue chips. The bank reported on Saturday that net income in the first quarter increased to SR1.73 billion ($460 million), or SR1.15 a share, from SR1.60 billion, or SR1.07, a year earlier. Samba gained five percent to SR51, the highest level since Jan. 13. Almarai gained 1.3 percent to SR151.75 after reporting that first-quarter net income advanced to SR197.4 million from SR1.62 million in the same period of last year. Largest-listed Saudi Basic Industries Corporation, or Sabic, closed 4.61 percent higher after its affiliate Saudi Fertilizers Company (Safco) posted a 27.4 per cent fall in first-quarter net profit, which has better than analysts's forecasts. Safco shares added 1.25 percent. Net investment and financing income - the equivalent of net income from lending in traditional banking - rose 12.5 percent to SR2.28 billion. Earnings per share at the end of March stood at SR1.15, up from SR1.07 a year earlier, it added. Samba Financial Group, the second-biggest bank by market value, advanced as much as six percent. Almarai Co., the largest food producer by market value, gained as much as two percent after posting a 22 percent rise in quarterly income. “Share prices have picked up in recent weeks after hitting a 64-month low in the first half of March,” Jadwa Investment Company said in its April Monthly Bulletin received on Saturday. “This is largely the result of improvements in global markets and rising oil prices, as investors have responded favorably to various government stimulus packages and signs that the pace of economic decline may be slowing.” The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index has rebounded 19 percent since reaching a 12-year low on March 9 as banks from Barclays Plc to Citigroup Inc. signaled they had a positive start to the year.
