Ahmed Al-Rasheed from Riyadh
Saudi stocks fell in their worst session in three months to close at 8,291 points, losing 73 points by about 0.88 percent, while the MT30 index, which measures the performance of the leading stocks, fell nine points by 0.86 percent, to close at 1099 points. The auction period after the close contributed to the market's decline by about 22 points, with transactions of 251 million riyals. The performance of most sectors and stocks was negative. This follows a weak performance in yesterday's session, and the market will face support at levels of 8,100-8150 points. The decline in global markets and the decline in oil prices do not stimulate the morale of dealers, especially with the anticipation of the financial results for the third quarter, as achieving results below expectations will make the market more vulnerable to a corrective wave, given the significant increase achieved by the index during the past six months.
Overall market performance
The general index opened at 8,376 points, trading between high and low. The highest point was at 8,390 points, gaining 0.31 percent, while the lowest point was at 8,291 points, losing 0.88 percent. At the end of the session, the general index closed at 8,291 points, losing 73 points, about 0.88 percent. Liquidity rose 15 percent by about 1.6 billion riyals to reach 12.4 billion riyals, at a rate of 26 thousand riyals per transaction, while traded shares increased 17 percent by about 72 million traded shares to reach 512 million traded shares, and the turnover rate for free shares was 0.90 percent. Deals rose 17 percent by about 70,000 deals, to reach 486,000 deals.
Sectors performance
Four sectors rose against the decline of the rest. The increase was led by “medicines” by 0.29 percent, followed by “retail luxury goods” by 0.23 percent, and “public utilities” by 0.06 percent. While the decline was led by "capital goods" by 2.2 percent, followed by "health care" by 1.87 percent, and by "consumer services" by 1.7 percent. The highest turnover was "basic materials" by about 19 percent with a value of 2.3 billion riyals, followed by "insurance" by 17 percent with a value of 2.1 billion riyals, and "energy" by about 15 percent with a value of 1.9 billion riyals.
Stocks performance
The rising shares were led by “Amana Insurance” by 9.88 percent to close at 26.70 riyals, followed by “Malath Insurance” by 6.13 percent to close at 17.30 riyals, and “Salama” by about 3.85 percent to close at 19.42 riyals. On the other hand, the decline was led by "Tihama Advertising" by 4.9 percent to close at 49.35 riyals, followed by "Nama" by about 4.69 percent to close at 30.50 riyals, and by "Al-Jouf" by about 4.3 percent to close at 40.10 riyals. The highest turnover was "refineries" with a value of 805 million riyals, followed by "Aramco" with a value of 494 million riyals, and "Dar Al-Arkan" with a value of 465 million riyals.
