Saudi shares fell for a fourth straight session to close at 7,728 points, down 16 points, 0.2 percent. The decline came under pressure from the banking sector led by Al-Rajhi. The index kept the 7700 support points, which it defended for the two consecutive sessions, with early buying yesterday. These are positive signs of consolidation and rebound in the general index, where it can still return to the levels of 7800 points again after losing it last week.
So far, 108 companies have announced a total profit of 95 billion riyals in 2017, a 10 percent increase over the previous year. The end of the announcement period will intensify the intensity of announcement, which will have a reflection on the volatility of the market and will restore liquidity to the market. It fell below four billion after reaching nearly six billion the previous week. The market is also poised to join the FTSE index, which is expected to be announced by the end of the month. This will play a role in attracting foreign liquidity attention to the market.
Overall market performance
The general index opened at 7744 points, trading between the high and low. The highest was at 7776 points by 0.4%, and the lowest was at 7714 points, losing 0.39%. At the end of the session, the index closed at 7,728 points, down 16 points, 0.2 percent. Liquidity declined by 17 percent about SR790 million to reach SR3.7 billion, SR36,000 for the deal. While the traded shares fell 8 percent by about 14 million shares to reach 162 million shares traded, and the circulation rate of shares by 0.3 percent. The deals fell 15 percent by about 18,000 to reach 102,000 deals.
Sector performance
Nine sectors rose against the rest. The rise was led by "Media" that rose 3.6%, followed by "Energy" of 1.1%, and "Consumer Services" of 0.9%. While the downtrend is led by "Food fragmentation" of 1.4%, followed by "food production" of 0.7%, and "communications" of 0.65%.
The highest turnover was "banks" by 28%, with a value of SR 1 billion, followed by "basic materials" by 20%, and "management and development of real estate" by 16%.
Stock performance
The highest gainers were "Walaa Insurance" that rose 7.7 percent to close at 33.86 riyals, followed by "Lazurde" of 3.58 percent to close at 17.95 riyals, and then "Bupa Arabia" with 3.57 percent to close at 94.83 riyals. On the other hand, the decline was led by "Malath Insurance" of 6.35 percent to close at SAR 15.34, followed by "SALAMA" of 5.87 percent to close at 25.65 riyals, and then "Petrochem" of 4 percent to close at 24.81 riyals.
The highest turnover were "Al Rajhi" with a 14 percent increase of SR 534 million, followed by "Dar Al Arkan" with 14 percent with a value of SR 511 million, and "Alinma" by 11 percent with a value of SAR 414 million.
* Economic Reports Unit
