*Ahmed Al-Rasheed from Riyadh
Saudi stocks extended their gains for the second consecutive session to close at 9047 points, a nine-point gain of 0.11 percent.
The "MT30" index rose one point by 0.12 percent to close at 1348 points.
Although the rally from the previous session retreated, the market rally was supported by medium and small sectors such as "food production", "insurance" and "retail luxury goods."
This comes in contrast to the previous period, where "banks" play a key role in the movement of the market up and down.
The market favors a horizontal direction where the last four sessions came close at close levels after a long series of nine sessions, which makes the market looking for data to break the monotony of performance.
Overall market performance
The general index opened at 9037 points, trading between high and low.
The highest point was at 9054 points with 0.18 per cent gain.
The lowest point was at 9022 points, losing 0.17 per cent.
At the end of the session, the general index closed at 9047 points, a nine-point gain of 0.11 per cent.
Liquidity declined 1 percent by 35 billion riyals to reach 2.9 billion SR, and the average value of the deal was 28,000 riyals.
While traded stocks fell 5 per cent by about 5 million shares to reach 112 million stocks, and the turnover rate was 0.21 per cent.
Deals fell 5 per cent by about 5,000 to reach 106,000 deals.
Sector performance
Eight sectors fell against the rise of the rest.
The decline was led by "Media and Entertainment" by 1.3 percent, followed by "energy" by 0.7 per cent, and "Management and Development of Real Estate" by 0.58%.
The rise was led by "Insurance" by 1.8%, followed by "retail luxury goods" by 1.5 per cent, and "medicines" by 1.3 per cent.
The highest turnover was "basic materials" at 27 percent that valued at SAR 794 million, followed by "banks" by 26 per cent that valued at 762 million riyals and "insurance" by 14 per cent with a value of SAR 430 million.
Stock performance
The rise was led by "Walaa Insurance" for the maximum to close at 26.60 riyals, followed by "Chubb" by 9.8 percent to close at 24.70 riyals and "eXtra" by 4.6 percent to close at 63.70 riyals.
On the other hand, the decline was led by "Saudi Cable" by 3% to close at 41.25 riyals, followed by "Petro Rabigh" by 2.4 per cent to close at 20.64 riyals and "Al-Alamiya" by 2.3% to close at SAR 31.75.
The highest turnovers were "Al-Rajhi" with a value of 335 million riyals by 11 per cent, followed by "SABIC" with a value of 317 million riyals (11 per cent) and then "Alinma" that amounted to 176 million riyals by 6 per cent.
* Economic Reports Unit
