Foreign investments rise to 1.99% last week

Non-founding foreign investors – namely swap holders, residents and qualified foreign investors (QFIs) – increased their ownership in the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) to 1.99 percent in the week ending Feb. 28 from 1.98 percent in the previous week on net purchases worth SAR 378 million, market data show.

Non-founding foreign investors don’t include strategic partners.

Non-founding foreign ownership had increased to over 2 percent in the period from April to October 2018, before it declined in October and November.

GCC investments in the Saudi market rose to 2.05 percent for the week from 2.01 percent in the previous week.

According to data compiled by Argaam, GCC investors' ownership saw a gradual decrease in 2017 to 2.40 percent in April, ahead of dropping to 2.06 percent in average last year.

Foreign investors’ ownership, including strategic partners, increased by 0.01 percent for the week to 5.08 percent, hitting a record high since September 2018.

Founding foreign investors accounted for 3.09 percent of the total foreign ownership in the Saudi market for the week ending Feb. 28.