Ahmed Al-Rasheed from Riyadh
Saudi stocks continued to rise for the second session in a row, closing at 7,645 points, gaining 19 points, about 0.25 percent, while the MT30 index increased three points by 0.33 percent to close at 1037 points. The rise came amid a variation in the performance of sectors and stocks. The market appears to be more catalyst for the rise and the view of dealers is largely optimistic about the profitability of the companies, which justifies the high valuations, which seem to be driven by the high hopes of dealers that the pandemic will end after the emergence of a Russian vaccine, and others are expected near approval. The challenges facing the market are not limited to the pandemic and its repercussions, which makes it more exaggerated in the market evaluation and increases the risk of a sharp correction.
Overall market performance
The general index opened at 7,623 points and traded between high and low. The highest point was at 7,646, 0.27 percent, while the lowest point was at 7,601 points, losing 0.3 percent. At the end of the session, the index closed at 7,645 points, winning 19 by 0.25 percent. Liquidity declined 11 percent by about 883 million riyals to reach 6.7 billion riyals, at a rate of 22 thousand riyals per deal. Traded shares also fell 19 percent by about 74 million shares to reach 312 million traded shares, with a free float rate of 0.55 percent. The deals fell 5 percent by about 15,000 to reach 308,000 deals.
Sectors performance
Ten sectors rose against the decline of the rest. The rise was led by "media and entertainment" by 1.6 percent, followed by "retail luxury goods" by 1.2 percent, and "capital goods" by 0.9 percent. While the decline was led by "medicines" by 2.47 percent, followed by "health care" by 1 percent, and by "long-term goods" by 0.83 percent.
The highest turnover was "basic materials" by about 19 percent with a value of 1.3 billion riyals, followed by "banks" by about 15 percent with a value of one billion riyals, and thirdly, "food production" by about 14 percent with a value of one billion riyals.
Stock performance
The rising shares were led by "Zoujaj" by 9.9 percent to close at 24.34 riyals, followed by "Eastern Development" with 5.5 percent to close at 79.10 riyals, and "Tabuk Agriculture" by 4.9 percent to close at 22.24 riyals. On the other hand, the decline was led by “Al-Mouwasat” by 3.2 percent to close at 108.20 riyals, followed by “Lazurde” 3.1 percent to close at 14.82 riyals, and “Al-Watania” third by 2.65 percent to close at 33.10 riyals.
The highest turnover was "Al-Rajhi" with a value of 403 million riyals, followed by "Dar Al-Arkan" with a value of 305 million riyals, and "Eastern Development" with a value of 262 million riyals.
Economic Reports Unit
