By Mohamed Abu Meleeh
Riyadh – Mubasher: Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) fluctuated on Sunday, as it opened 2% or 115.5 points higher, yet reversed these early gains and shut 1.82% or 102.9 points lower at 5,557.9 points.
A bearish sentiment continues to dominate the economic situation, said Amjad Al Harby, financial analyst, adding that the geopolitical developments weighed on the local equities market, coupled with global markets that were dragged by oil prices.
Thus, it is likely that Tadawul will extend the downtrend to reach a bottom, possibly the previous psychological barrier that may halt the bleeding backed by leading stocks that remained steady like SABIC and STC, according to the analyst.
Al Harby also noted that speculations are expected to be dominant currently, which reflects continued worries in the market.
During the last four sessions, Tadawul shed 347.6 points, or 5.9% to reach a 16-session low.
Thirteen sectors moved lower, while energy rose by 0.56% and petrochemical industries added 0.13% powered by SABIC that advanced by 1.62%.
The banks sector fell by 1.51%, while its blue chip stock Al Rajhi Bank advanced by 0.63%. The telecommunication sector also pulled back 0.94% despite the 0.68% rise in STC. The agriculture sector also drifted 3.21% lower shrugging off the 0.14% rise of Savola.
The media and publishing sector was the biggest drag (-9.21%), followed by hotel and tourism (-8.36%) and insurance (-5.25%).
152 stocks were in red, led by four stocks under the insurance sector: Medgulf (-9.97%), Alalamiya (-9.96%), Malaath (-9.95%) and Alsagr (-9.95%). Meanwhile, 14 other stocks were in green, topped by Saudi Exports (+5.32%), Advanced (+3.76%), Yansab (+3.27%) and Sipchem (+2.23%).
Translated by Sayed Abdel Rahman
