Saudi index crosses 8,400 for first time in three years

Saudi Arabia’s stocks extended gains during early session on Monday as banking major Al Rajhi continued its upward momentum, after surging more than 5 percent yesterday.

The Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) rose 1.1 percent within the first hour of trade, reaching 8,419 points.

Al Rajhi Bank, the most weighted stock, was last trading up 2.6 percent at SAR 92.2 – the highest in more than 10 years.

The stock rallied yesterday after a member of the Al Rajhi family, Ahmed bin Suleiman Al-Rajhi, was named the country’s Minister of Labor.

“It is clear that (the news) plays a very big role and that is why Al Rajhi came on top in terms of the banks. But you can see the correlation and the impact across the entire banking index,” Issam Kassabieh, senior financial analyst at Menacorp, told Argaam.

A number of stocks hit 52-week high led by National Commercial Bank (NCB), the country’s largest lender by assets. NCB was last trading up nearly 2 percent at SAR 48.95.

Saudi dairy producer Almarai led best performers, climbing 5 percent to SAR 60.20.

On the other hand, Al Sorayai Trading and Industrial Group extended its negative performance, leading the biggest losers with a drop of 7 percent to SAR 16.82.

Mouwasat Medical Services fell 2 percent to SAR 94.00.

Below table shows the 11 companies that touched a 52-week high on Monday:

*The highest price during the session.                                                                                           

**The highest price since listing.

Write to Nadeshda Zareen at nadeshda.zareen@argaamplus.com