Investors responded with enthusiasm as banks across Saudi Arabia as they rushed to pick up shares in Emaar Economic City which listed for the first time on the Saudi bourse.
Emaar Economic City is developing a $26.7 billion (Dh98.2 billion) industrial and financial centre on the Red Sea coast according to Khaleej Times and Reuters. The project is the single largest private investment ever in Saudi Arabia.
The stock made its debut at four times the price of its initial public offering, according to Gulf News. The stock opened at 40 riyals (about Dh40), and rose by as much as 12.5 per cent before closing the morning session at 30.50 riyals (about Dh30) on the Arab world's largest bourse on Saturday.
Police were called in to control investors swarming bank counters to secure shares during the first hours of listing, as Economic City drew bids from a record 10 million investors, most of who are believed to be small investors hard hit by the Saudi stock market crash several months back.
"A lot of small investors will hurry to take profits in the next three to five days," Ebrahim Al Alwan, head of research, Bakheet Financial Advisers.
