Saudi Arabia may soon allow foreigners to invest directly in the kingdom’s stock market as King Abdullah Wednesday instructed authorities to study measures for its implementation. 
According to the Saudi Press Agency, King Abdullah advised Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf to study the possibility of cutting the nominal value of shares to boost the market and create further liquidity.
This came following a meeting between Al-Assaf and top investors on the king’s instructions.
The news boosted the stock market, which suffered heavy losses in recent days. The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) recovered Wednesday afternoon session after plunging 723.03 points or 4.85 percent in the morning session. At the close, the index recovered 706.34 points or 4.74 percent to 15,606.38 after falling below 15,000 points on Tuesday.
According to Arab News, the market turnover rose to SR15.65 billion (US$4.1 billion) Wednesday from SR5 billion (US$1.33 billion) on Tuesday. The index has lost almost 21 percent over the past week.
The Saudi market was also helped Wednesday also by an announcement from Saudi businessman Prince Alwaleed ibn Talal that his company would invest up to SR10 billion ($2.6 billion) in it.
© 2006 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
