Saudi Arabian shares rose in the first day of trading this year, led by Etihad Etisalat Co, the second largest mobile phone company in the country, and Yanbu National Petrochemical Co. The Tadawul All Share Index rose 0.32 percent to close at 6,141.63, its highest since Dec 28. The index gained 27.5 percent last year after losing more than half its value in 2008 as oil prices dropped. Etihad Etisalat rose 3.5 percent to SR44.9, its highest since Nov 7, 2009. Yanbu National, a unit of Saudi Basic Industries Corp, the world's biggest petrochemicals maker, gained 2.7 percent to SR34.3. On Dec 30, Bakheet Investment Group, in its weekly stock market report, said: “The Saudi stock market will continue its narrow fluctuation following this week's gains.” It added: “However, investors will be eyeing the upcoming corporate results of listed companies for Q4 2009 to have a clear outlook regarding their performance under the current economic conditions.” Saudi Basic Industries added 0.3 percent to SR82.75. National Industrialization Co, the Saudi petrochemicals maker known as Tasnee, rose 1.8 percent to SR28.6, its highest since Oct 24 last year. Crude oil for February delivery rose 8 cents to $79.36 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Dec 31. Saudi foreign assets dip Saudi Arabia's foreign assets shrunk by almost 12 percent in the first 11 months of 2009 over massive spending on infrastructure. The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (Sama said in its November bulletin that its assets tumbled by about SR206 billion to SR1.503 trillion at the end of November from about SR1.709 trillion at the end of 2008. “To meet its commitment to the economic rescue plan, the government was withdrawing part of those assets in 2009 and channeling them into Saudi Arabia. The fall was also caused by the fact that Saudi Aramco appeared to have increased spending on development projects,” said Ihsan bu Hlaiga, a Saudi economist.
