Tadawul’s benchmark index Tasi saw its turnover jump 17.9% m-o-m, closing January 2025 at SAR 140.9 bn, with an average daily trading value of SAR 6.4 mn, according to AlJazira Capital’s Saudi & Global Markets Review (pdf). The banking sector accounted for the lion’s share of turnover during the month at 16.2%. Tasi closed January at 12.4k points, marking a 3.2% m-o-m increase.

Real estate stocks recorded the highest m-o-m growth: Seventeen out of the 21 Tasi sectors recorded a positive m-o-m performance in January, with real estate logging the highest growth rate at 12.7%, followed by commercial services with a 9% increase.

ICYMI- Foreign investors can now directly buy shares and convertible debt instruments in Tadawul-listed real estate companies with assets in Makkah and Madinah under a new regulatory update issued by the Capital Market Authority last week.

Top gainers: Nice One was the top gainer during January, with its share adding 60.6%, followed by Almoosa Health (+33.4%), Thimar (+30.7%), Jabal Omar (+28.4%), and Al Mawarid (+28.1%).

In the red: Amongst the worst-performing stocks last months were the National Company for Learning & Education (-11.2), Chemanol (-10.5), Bupa Arabia (-10.1), Amak (-7.3), and Riyad REIT (-7.1).

Al Rajhi tops charts in turnover: Al Rajhi saw the highest turnover by the end of January, reaching SAR 8.51 bn. It was followed by Nice One (SAR 5.14 bn), and Aramco (SAR 4.7 bn). Alinma (SAR 4.1 bn) and Almoosa Health (SAR 3.86 bn) rounded out the top five most traded stocks for the month.

REMEMBER- The market has already seen a strong start to 2025 with the IPOs of Almoosa Health and Nice One at the turn of the year. “Nice One can be considered the first Saudi unicorn, opening the door for more players to take the initiative and list,” SNB Capital’s Head of Investment Banking Zaid Ghoul told Zawya earlier this month.

Foreign funds are flooding in: Foreign ownership in Tadawul continued to rise in January, with qualified foreign investors (QFIs) holding 10.2% of total free-float ownership, up from 10.04% in December 2024. Net inflows from foreign investors came in at SAR 2.6 bn last month, while local institutional investors contributed SAR 2.2 bn. Among individual stocks, Extra recorded the largest monthly increase in foreign ownership (+2.72% m-o-m), while MESC saw the biggest decline, shedding 2.21% of its QFI ownership by the end of the month. Local retail investors and GCC investors drove net outflows of SAR 3.86 bn and SAR 0.9 bn, respectively.

Are investors optimistic about future growth? The overall P/E ratio of Tasi stood at 24.3x (excluding Aramco), with Saudi Advanced Industries (SAIC) and ANB Bank being the lowest at 6.7x and 8.7x respectively.

SOUND SMART- A high P/E ratio indicates that a stock is expensive relative to its earnings, often reflecting investor optimism about future growth. It suggests that investors are willing to pay a premium, anticipating higher profits ahead. However, it can also signal overvaluation if the stock price is too high compared to its actual earnings potential.

TASI IN 2024- Tasi ended last year with a slight 0.6% uptick. Capital goods (+52.8%) and utilities (+38.6%) topped sectoral gains, while energy (-14.8) and consumer staples (-13.5%) were lagging behind.

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