Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) jumped 15 percent, or 1,088 points, to close at 8,314 in H1 2018, compared to 7,226 points at the end of 2017.
According to data published by Tadawul, the total ownership of “Foreign Investors” stood at 4.99 percent of total market capitalization as of June 28, 2018, representing an increase of 0.08 percent from the previous month.
The benchmark rose nine percent, or 645 points in Q1 2018, maintaining its strong performance with a six percent (443 points) gain in the second quarter– its highest quarterly close since Q2 2015.
Last month, Tadawul won Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) emerging market (EM) status, the global index compiler said in its annual review for 2018.
Saudi Arabia stocks were lower after the close on Monday as losses in the Multi-Investment, Cement and Petrochemicals sectors led shares lower. At the close in Saudi Arabia, the TASI fell 0.78 percent.
These developments come as the Saudi economy, the largest in the Middle East, achieved positive growth in the Q1 of this year, at 1.2 percent, in actual translation of the feasibility of economic reforms that work on diversifying the economy and reducing dependence on oil.
Saudi General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) indicated the GDP of the non-oil sector in Saudi Arabia achieved a more positive rate during the first quarter of this year, a growth of 1.6 percent.
Saudi GDP rose 1.2 percent at the end of the first quarter to reach $172.7 billion (SAR647.8 billion) compared to $170.7 billion (SAR640.4 billion) during the same period last year, the data showed.
Non-oil GDP increased 1.6 percent by the end of the first quarter of this year, reaching $98.9 billion (SAR371.02 billion).
GDP of the oil sector rose 0.6 percent to $72.8 billion (SAR273.3 billion) compared to $72.4 billion (SAR271.6 billion) of the first quarter of previous year.
Its contribution to the national GDP reached 42.2 percent compared to 42.4 percent during the same period of previous year.
In May, oil prices rose to around $80 per barrel, compared to less than $30 a barrel early 2016, when OPEC countries led by Saudi Arabia and non-OPEC producers agreed to cut output.
On the other hand, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) praised the positive economic reforms that Saudi Arabia has been working on while stressing that the implementation of some initiatives aimed at increasing non-oil revenues is a significant achievement.
This comes at a time with the quarterly report of the Saudi budget revealing a significant increase in non-oil revenues during the first quarter of 2018.
