Saudi Arabian shares rose the most in a month, after US and European markets advanced and oil prices rallied on a pledge by Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke to maintain the US economic recovery. The stock benchmark Tadawul All Share Index rose 0.9 percent to close at 6,055.54 points on Saturday, biggest gain since July 27. Shares in Saudi Basic Industries Corp ended 1.5 percent higher, while state-run Saudi Electricity gained 1.1 percent. Samba bank rose 0.4 percent. Al Rajhi Bank, the Kingdom's biggest publicly traded lender by market value, rose as much as 1.3 percent, the most since Aug. 15. Etihad Etisalat Co., the second-largest mobile-phone operator, rose 2.9 percent, the most in three weeks, to SR52.75. “The market is reacting positively to a higher close for oil over the weekend,” said Anas Kassem, an investment analyst at Ajeej Capital in Riyadh, “in addition to Bernanke's speech yesterday which helped western markets bounce back at the end of a difficult week.” US, European and emerging-market stocks rose Friday as US Federal Reserve ChairmanBernanke pledged to safeguard the recovery of the world's biggest economy. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 164.84, or 1.7 percent, to close at 10,150.65. The Standard and Poor's 500 Index rose 17.37, or 1.7 percent, to 1,064.59 and the Nasdaq composite index rose 34.94, or 1.6 percent, to 2,153.63. In London, the FTSE-100 index rose 0.9 percent, while the DAX 0.7 percent and the CAC-40 in Paris rose 0.9 percent. Japan's Nikkei 225 closed up 1 percent.
