JEDDAH: Saudi Arabian shares rose on the first day of the week to the highest in almost eight months as investors anticipated year-end dividend payouts. The 146-company stock benchmark Tadawul All Share Index ended on a bright note, adding 0.49 percent to 6729.60. Energy and industrial shares pace the advance. Trader said investors cautiously optimistic ahead of the bulk of 4Q earnings due to hit over the next week or so. Ma'aden rose 7.4 percent at SR23.95, while Petro Rabigh jumped 2.8 percent to SR23.50. The company said its oil-refining complex is fully operational after it restarted another of its furnaces in the ethane cracker following power outages in October. Yamamah Saudi Cement inched up 1 percent at SR52.75 after earlier saying 4Q profit rose 10 percent to SR160 million compared with the year earlier. Petrochemicals maker National Industrialization Co. (Tasnee) also advanced, while US economic data and lower oil prices tempered the gains. "Two countering factors were in play today," Asim Bukhtiar, an equity analyst at Riyad Capital, said in Riyadh. "Investors were buying in for year-end dividends, while below- expectations employment figures in the US and cooling-off commodities were holding back the gauge." Ma'aden climbed as much as 8.3 percent to SR24.15, the highest price since September 2008, before trading at SR23.6. Tasnee rose as much as 1.1 percent to SR36.9, also the highest intraday price since September 2008. Alinma Bank, an Islamic bank, increased 1.9 percent to SR10.75. Among the losers, Saudi Basic Industries Corp., declined as much as 0.5 percent to SR106.75, before trading at SR107. "Market activity should pick up by mid-week as earnings start to trickle in," Bukhtiar said. “The rise in petchems today was only on a number of petrochemical stocks. I don't think this rise will continue,” Hesham Abou-Jamee of Bakheet Investment Group said Al Arabiya television. “We are still waiting for good financial results to be reported that will support a rise in prices.” “As for Ma'aden's rise, that was all speculation. There was no new news on the company so perhaps tomorrow we will see a negative reaction to the share price,” he stated. The petrochemical index gained 0.7 percent, as Saudi Fertilizers Company (Safco) climbed 2.8 percent. US and European stocks declined for a second day Friday after the US Labor Department said payrolls increased by 103,000.
