Although Saudi stock market closed in the negative territory on Monday, the January performance nonetheless showed a marked improvement. The total value of shares traded for the month reached SR65.65 billion ($17.51 billion), an increase of 23.49 percent over the previous month, Tadawul said on its website. Favorable corporate results, positive economic forecasts and steadying oil prices invigorated Gulf stock market sentiment on Monday, though the Saudi bourse declined as oil prices seesawed. Kuwait and Oman bourses also closed in the red. The rest registered gains. Saudi Arabia's Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) dropped 0.15 percent to 6,243.02 points. Saudi Basic Industries Corp lost 1.4 percent and has fallen 6.5 percent from Jan. 20's 15-month high as sliding crude prices dampen demand for petrochemicals stocks. “Prices of oil have always been a key factor for Saudi Arabia's economy, however in terms of actual linear correlation the relationship between oil prices and the TASI was not statistically significant,” said Abdullah Alawi, head of Research at Aljazira Capital in Jeddah. “For 2010 however, we believe this correlation will increase as oil prices play a bigger role in the governmental budget and also as a gauge for world economic health.” Oil was up 0.4 percent at $73.18 a barrel, trimming its losses to 11.3 percent in three weeks as concerns about the world economy and future demand weigh. Kuwait's index slipped 0.2 percent to 7,015 points. Oman's index fell 0.3 percent to 6,515 points. Meanwhile, Dubai and Abu Dhabi indices rose rose 2.2 percent to 1,625 points and 1.2 percent to 2,665 points, respectively. Qatar's measure climbed 0.8 percent to 6,610 points. Bahrain's index added 0.5 percent closing at 1,485 points. In January this year, TASI closed at 6,252.55 points, gaining 130.79 points or 2.14percent over the close of the previous month. Year-on-year, TASI gained 30.02 percent compared to the same period of the previous year. The highest close for the index during the month was 6,409.04 on Jan. 18. Total equity market capitalization in January 2010 reached SR1.24 billion ($331.22 billion), or an increase by 3.90 percent over the previous month. Total number of shares traded reached 3.23 billion shares in January 2010 compared to 2.22 billion shares traded in December 2009, an increase of 45.68 percent. Total number of transactions executed in January jumped by 6.25 percent at 1.61 million compared to 1.52 million trades in December. In January transaction, Saudi nationals took 90 percent of trading for selling at SR59.12 billion and 84.5 percent for buying at SR55.45 billion. Saudi companies represented 4.1 percent of trading for selling at SR1.96 billion and 9.2 percent for buying at SR4.99 billion. Investment funds clinched 2.3 percent for selling at SR1.49 billion and 2.9 percent) for buying at SR 1.94 billion.
