*Ahmed Al-Rasheed from Riyadh
Saudi stocks ended the last week in June at 107 points, up 1.3 percent, to close at 8314 points. Though, it rose 1.9 per cent on monthly performance and 5.6 per cent in the second quarter.
The market has risen 15 per cent since the beginning of the year, with the market value rising to 292 billion riyals and reaching 1.98 trillion riyals.
The gains came after the market found a positive boost at the beginning of the year, after companies showed growth in their 2017 earnings, with cash dividends improving in leaders, especially the banking sector, which contributed the most to the market's profitability.
In addition to the improvement in oil prices, which reached $ 80 during the last period, which positively affects the prices of petrochemical products, the accession of the market to international indicators that contributed to the increasing flow of foreign investment liquidity and increased incentives for market demand.
Currently, the market is having difficulty completing its rally, where for three months it has not been able to settle above 8350 points despite repeated attempts, due to higher market profitability and lower returns. Liquidity to the market did not improve as well.
With higher prices, the market requires higher liquidity to achieve higher market capitalization, which the market did not find.
Liquidity has been trading between 2 and 3 billion riyals in most sessions since May, after trading between 4 and 5 billion riyals in the previous period.
The market will continue to trade between the 21-day average at 8230 now and the 8460 until the factors determine the course of the market. But, the pressure on the market is greater now with the rise of the repeaters and reaching technical targets, and the rise of some technical indicators, indicating the stage of over-buying.
Overall market performance
The general index opened at 8,206 points, rose in two sessions and retreated in the rest. The highest point was at 8362 points, a gain of 1.9 per cent.
The week ended at 8314 with a gain of 107 points, 1.3 percent.
Trading values rose 278 percent to reach 14.6 billion, up by 10.7 billion riyals, as the number of weekly sessions rose, compared to last week's only two sessions.
The average value of the deal was 33 thousand riyals, while the traded shares rose 321 per cent by 502 million shares to reach 659 million shares with a turnover rate of 1.3 per cent.
Transactions rose 247 percent by about 318,000 to reach 438,000 transactions.
Sector performance
Three sectors retreated versus the rest. "Media" rose 11 per cent, followed by
"commercial and professional services" by 4 per cent and "insurance" by 2 per cent.
The decline was led by "utilities" by 4 percent, followed by "property management and development" by 0.5 percent, and "long-term goods" by 0.5 percent.
The main turnovers were "Basic Materials" at 27%, with a value of SR4 billion, followed by "Banks" by 25% with a value of SR3.7 billion, and then "management and development of real estate" by 15 per cent with a value of 2.2 billion riyals.
Stock performance
The rise was led by "Enaya" that rose 35 per cent to close at SAR 23.96, "Amana Insurance" by 21 per cent to close at SAR 19.30 and "SIECO" by 12 per cent closing at SAR 237.
The decline was led by "Dar Al-Arkan" by 7 per cent to close at 10.54 riyals, followed by "Saudi Electricity" by 5 per cent to close at 20.82 riyals and "Al-khaleej Training" by 3.7 per cent to close at 15.64 riyals.
The highest turnovers were "Alinma" by 14% with a value of 2 billion riyals, followed by "SABIC" by 12% with a value of SR1.8 billion, and "Dar Al Arkan" by 12 percent with a value of 1.7 billion riyals.
* Economic Reports Unit
