The Saudi stock market made hefty gains in July and it looks like the bourse has slowly and steadily started its upward momentum after a major downturn. After dropping 52.53 percent in 2006, the Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) is still down 3.82 percent so far this year. According to the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) report for the month of July, which was released on Saturday on its website, TASI closed at 7,534.05 points at the end of July, up 564.33 points or 8.10 percent over the previous month. On a year to date (YTD) basis the index declined by 5.03 percent. Highest close level for the index in July was 7,633.54 as on July 25. The market capitalization at the end of July reached SR1.28 trillion ($341.85 billion), increasing by 15.22 percent over the previous month, Arab News reported. --MORE
