Closing bell: TASI rises 66.80 points as healthcare stocks dominate

Closing bell: TASI rises 66.80 points as healthcare stocks dominate

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index gained 66.80 points, or 0.59 percent, to close at 11,344.40 on Thursday as 132 of the 224 stocks rose, while 72 closed down.

The top-performing index of the Saudi Stock Exchange was the Pharma, Biotech & Life Science Index, which soared 6.6 percent, followed by the insurance and transportation sectors, which rose 2 percent and 1.14 percent, respectively.

While the parallel market Nomu rose 0.15 percent to close at 20,832.55, the MSCI Tadawul Index edged up 0.60 percent to close at 1,526.51.

The total trading turnover of the benchmark index was SR6.2 billion ($1.65 billion).

The Co. for Cooperative Insurance, also known as Tawuniya, surged 7.5 percent to close at SR126.20.

Saudi Pharmaceutical Industries and Medical Appliances Corp. and Al-Rajhi Co. for Cooperative Insurance also rose 6.60 percent and 6.44 percent, respectively.

The worst performer was AlJazira REIT, which declined 3.38 percent to SR18.30.

On Thursday, the Capital Market Authority announced the approval of First Milling Co.’s application for an initial public offering of 30 percent of its share capital, with the offering size at 16.65 million shares. The shares will be offered from June 6-7.

On the earnings front, Sinad Holding Co. reported a net loss of SR21.5 million in