Saudi stocks broke the longest streak in a month after falling yesterday by 42 points, 0.53 percent. The decline came under the pressure from Al Rajhi, which lost the gains of the past two sessions. The index's negative moves came ahead of FTSE's announcement that the domestic index would join the emerging market. Some traders seemed to favor capital gains ahead of the announcement. Regardless of the index's entry, the market is in a state of saturation with many stocks rising to a 52-week high. The gains are so big in speculators' portfolios that they are encouraged to take profits. The market faces resistance at 7946 while support at 7870 points.
Overall market performance
The general index opened at 7942 points, trading between high and low. The highest point was at 7950 with a gain of 0.1 percent, while the lowest point was at 7866 points, 0.95 per cent. At the end of the session, the general index closed at 7,900 points, losing 42 points, 0.53 percent. Liquidity declined 1.7 percent by about 77.3 million riyals to reach 4.3 billion riyals. The average value per transaction was 42 thousand riyals. While the traded shares fell 3 percent by about 5.4 million shares traded to reach 175 million shares. The turnover rate was 0.34 percent. The deals fell 6 percent by about 6.4 thousand to reach 101 thousand deals.
Sector performance
Five sectors rose against the rest. The rise was led by "Food production" with 1.2 percent, followed by "public utilities" with 1 percent, and "property management and development" by 0.95 percent. While the decline was led by "commercial and professional services" with 2.58%, followed by "retail luxury goods" with 2.15%, and then "communications" with 1.64%.
The main turnovers were "Basic Materials" with 30 percent at SAR 1.3 billion, followed by "banks" with SR 1.3 billion at 30 percent, and "real estate management and development" at 14 percent at SAR 622 million.
Stock performance
The rise was led by "Budget" of 3.49% to close at SAR36.52, followed by "Al Alamiya" with 3.4% to close at SAR 25.27, and then the "Trade Union" with 3.29% to close at 21.99 riyals.
On the other hand, the decline was led by "Alandalus Property" that lost 7.7 percent to close at 22.55 riyals, followed by "Shaker Group" with 5.29 percent to close at 10.56 riyals, and "Alkaleej Training" with 3.93 percent at 19.32 riyals.
The higest turnovers were "SABIC" with a value of SR 626 million, followed by "Alinma" of 13% with a value of SR 546 million, and "Al-Rajhi" of 11% with a value of SR 477 million.
* Economic Reports Unit
