By: Aseel Bin Talib
Riyadh – Mubasher: The Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) ended Thursday's session at a slight increase.
The main index rose 0.14% or 8.89 points to stand at 6,246.45 points.
The market witnessed the trading of 186.7 shares over 88,000 transactions at a value of SAR 3.32 billion.
Technical analyst, Abdullah Al Gabali, said that Tadawul was supposed to preserve a very important support level at 6,300 points and rebound upwards to 6,600 points; however, the market retreated in the last two sessions along the falling trend that will likely lead it to 5,900 points.
The decrease in oil prices to $43 per barrel (pb) and the end of companies' first-half financial announcements contributed to the market's activity, he told Mubasher.
Al Gabali expected that crude Brent prices would rebound upwards to $45-47 pb which may have impact on the market by the beginning of the next week.
The agriculture sector was the top performer, increasing 0.56%, followed by the banks and petrochemical sectors, which gained 0.54% and 0.43%, respectively.
On the other hand, the media sector was the worst performer decreasing 5.45%, followed by the real estate development and transport sectors, which lost 0.70% and 0.51%, respectively.
On the stock level, 70 shares levelled up, 94 levelled down, and 6 remained unchanged.
Saudi Fisheries Co. (Al Asmak) topped gainers rising 5.35%, followed by Samba Financial Group and Arabia Insurance Cooperative adding 4.98% and 4.51%, respectively.
Tabuk Agricultural Development led losers sliding 9.82%, followed by Saudi Research and Marketing Group and Saudi Paper Manufacturing Co. (SPMC) which fell 6.5% and 5.76%, respectively.
Translated by: Sara Ghali
