Tadawul rises on Sabic's China joint venture

Saudi Arabia's benchmark Tadawul index rose 1.1 per cent or 59 points to close at 5,472.29, driven by heavyweight Saudi Basic Industries Corp (Sabic) which said it had won approval for its Chinese joint venture. Savola Group, Saudi Paper Manufacturing, Sabic, Advanced Polypropylene Company, Saudi Fisheries and Food Products were the top gainers yesterday. While Ash-Sharqiyah Development Company, Zamil Industrial, Dar Al Arkan, Fitaihi Holding Group, Saudi Hotels & Resort Areas and Saqr Insurance were top losers. Among the sub-indexes, all ended in the positive territory except real estate sector and hotel and tourism sector. Petrochemical industries and agriculture and food industries sub-indexes were the largest gainers of the day, rising 2.94 per cent and 2.87 per cent, respectively. In all, 127 scrips traded with 78 gainers and 36 losers. More than 121.8 million shares changed hands in 98,126 deals worth SR3.3 billion (Dh3.23bn). Sabic jumped 4.46 per cent after it said Chinese authorities had approved an equally-owned joint-venture plant with Sinopec. Dar Al Arkan, Saudi Arabia's biggest real estate developer, fell 2.65 per cent after posting a 10 per cent fall in second-quarter net profit. Saudi Fertilizer Co (Safco) gained 3.3 per cent after posting a 60 per cent drop in second-quarter profit, in line with analysts' forecasts. The firm proposed a first-half dividend of five riyals. Safco made a net profit of SR480 million in the three months to June 30, which is 60 per cent below the SR1.19bn it made a year earlier, it said in a statement on the bourse website. Tadawul is the only market open on Saturdays. Last week, the Saudi Stock Exchange, the Middle East's largest bourse by market value, gave Dow Jones Indexes approval to create Saudi indexes as part of the kingdom's efforts to develop its capital markets. The index provider will be able to use real-time share prices and data to create Saudi indexes, Tadawul said. Keep up with the latest business news from the region with the daily Emirates Business 24|7 newsletter. To subscribe to the newsletter, please click here .