JEDDAH, 7 October 2007 -- The new insurance company made a strong debut on the Saudi stock market yesterday. Shares in Al-Ahlia Insurance Company, which started trading on the Tadawul yesterday, jumped 607.75 percent to close at SR70.75. The SR10 share opened at SR82.25 and reached high of SR90.50 and a low of SR70.25 during the trading.

However, the strong debut of Al-Ahlia failed to halt stock market slide yesterday. The Tadawul All-Share Index dropped 67.93 points to close at 7,697.24.

Al-Ahlia became the 15th company to be traded in the insurance sector which was until recently dominated by the National Company for Cooperative Insurance (NCCI). The other only gainer in the insurance sector yesterday was Al-Ahli Takaful Company as its shares increased slightly to SR172.75.

Shares of other insurance companies, however, dropped sharply yesterday. Saudi Fransi Cooperative Insurance Co. shares fell by 9.87 percent, Saudi Indian Company for Cooperative Insurance by 9.86 percent, Saudi IAIC Cooperative Insurance Co. by 9.84 percent, Saudi Arabian Cooperative Insurance Co. by 9.80 percent and Allied Cooperative Insurance co. by 9.78 percent to SR83.

The insurance index was down over 4 percent to SR2,026.51 yesterday.

In the banking sector, shares of Riyad Bank surged 1.28 percent to SR59.25 while all other banks were in the red.

Arab National Bank (ANB) shares fell slightly to SR82 despite its announcement of a net profit of SR1.98 billion for the first nine months of 2007 as compared to SR1.95 billion for the same period last year, an increase of 1.6 percent.

Al-Rajhi Bank shares dropped over 2 percent to SR84.25 yesterday.

In the telecom sector shares of Saudi Telecom Co. (STC) dropped by 0.78 percent to SR63.75 and Etihad Etisalat by 1.12 percent to SR66 yesterday.

Saudi Electricity Co. shares gained 2.22 percent yesterday to close at SR11.50.

Out of 105 companies traded, shares of only 18 companies were in positive territory while shares of 70 companies dropped yesterday. The stock market turnover was also meager at SR3.64 billion.

By Khalil Hanware

© Arab News 2007