By Mohamed Abu Meleeh
Riyadh – Mubasher: Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) advanced for the second successive day, shutting near the 5,700 barrier, as traders focused on major stocks in term of prices as reflected in the increased liquidity and decreased volume.
The main index rose by 1.1% or 61.25 points to close at 5,698.56 points. It gained 1.57% or 88 points in the last two sessions.
Wednesday’s traded value amounted to SAR 5.2 billion, up 4.4% from SAR 5 billion yesterday. Meanwhile, traded volume declined by 1.9% to 320 million shares from 326 million shares.
The market currently goes through the ‘fourth’ wave, which is marked by fluctuating performance in some stocks, said Saad Al-Saad, technical analyst, adding that the ‘speculative’ companies on which traders focus as small while major companies like SABIC and Al-Rajhi fluctuated within a tight range.
The analyst expected the market to move higher in the coming period, with projected rise in oil prices next months to $37 per barrel.
Blue-chip stocks were on a positive note, as Al Rajhi Bank rose by 0.55%, SABIC (+1.94%), NCB (+0.13%), STC (+0.94%), Savola (+5.41%) and Jabal Omar (+0.63%).
Sectors were in green, except for multi-investment that sagged 0.21%. The media and publishing was the biggest gainer (+9.56%), followed by agriculture (+3.57%) and insurance (+2.46%).
Tracking stock performance, advancers outnumbered decliners by 118 to 46. Alsagr Insurance was the best performer (+9.92)%, followed by SRMG (+9.82%), while Anaam Holding was the biggest drag (-3.4%), followed by Buruj Insurance (-2.48%) and NCB Takaful (-2.31%).
Translated by Sayed Abdel Rahman
