NEW SAUDI SHARE INDEX INTRODUCED
Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Finance and
National Economy has started to issue an index to measure share
activity in the kingdom.
    An official of the Ministry's National Centre for Financial
and Economic Information said the weekly index, based on the
U.S. Standard and Poors Index, had been kept for over two years
but was only now being published.
    Measuring the prices of 48 companies currently traded in
Saudi Arabia, the index reached 68.72 points in the week ended
last March 5, down from the previous week's 69.50.
    It is divided into four subcategories -- agriculture which
stood at 99.03 points on March 5, industry at 54.44, services
at 76.93 and finance at 61.46.
    The ministry begun issuing the index at a time when the
situation is improving in the Saudi stock market after a
two-year decline.
 REUTER
