* Ahmed Al-Rasheed from Riyadh
Saudi shares fell for the second session to close at 8452 points, 10 points down 0.12 per cent. The decline came at a lower pace than the previous session with a low volatility.
Despite the rise of banks, however, the market remained in the red zone with the decline of the basic materials sector and the management and development of real estate sector, as opportunities for a return to profitability remain with the support of 8426 and trading above the 21-day average at 8336 points.
The fall in the rate of decline shows the lack of interest of dealers for selling as prices continue to decline; in contrast there are still active purchasing forces, where in the last two sessions, the market was compensating almost half of the losses at closing.
The release of companies from the second quarter results and overall growth will drive the market to reach new levels at 8620 or 8800 points.
Overall market performance
The general index opened at 8462 points, trading between high and low.
The highest point was at 8471 points, 0.1 per cent, while the lowest point was at 8435 points, 0.3 per cent.
At the end of the session, the general index closed at 8452 points, losing 10 points by 0.1 percent.
Trading values fell 1 percent by about 35 million riyals to reach 2.8 billion SR at a rate of 30 thousand riyals per transaction.
While the traded shares rose 1 per cent by about 1.2 million shares to reach 107 million shares, and the turnover rate was 0.2 per cent.
Deals rose 1 percent to reach 93,000.
Sector performance
Six sectors rose against the rest.
The rise was led by "Media" of 0.9%, "Insurance" of 0.6%, and "Banks" of 0.5%.
While the decline was led by "management and development of real estate" by 1.5%, followed by "food production" by 1%, and "energy" by 1%.
The highest turnovers were "Basic Materials" by 34 percent at a value of SR 951 million, followed by "Banks" by 26 percent at a value of SR 722 million and "Insurance" by 17 percent at a value of SR 486 million.
Stock performance
The rise was led by "Al-Ahlia" for the maximum and close at SAR12.32, followed by "SALAMA" by 6.7 per cent to close at SAR 22.40 and "Medgulf Insurance" by 4.3 per cent to close at SAR 23.78.
On the other hand, the decline was led by "Namaa" by 6.3 per cent to close at SAR 28.30, followed by "Aldrees" by 5.3 per cent to close at SAR 28.60 and "Amana Insurance" by 3.6 per cent to close at SAR 22.44.
"SABIC" had the highest turnover of SR 529 million (19 per cent), followed by "Alinma" by 15 per cent with a value of 407 million riyals, and "Al Rajhi" by 6 per cent with a value of 175 million riyals.
* Economic Reports Unit
