Riyadh – Mubasher: The benchmark index of the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) closed Sunday at a slight rise, marking its second increase in a row, despite limited liquidity, while the parallel market index registered its third straight loss.
The Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) edged up 0.08% or 6.4 points to close the week’s starting session at 8,113.87 points.
Turnover continued to drop for the fifth session in a row, reaching SAR 3.95 billion on Sunday versus SAR 4.2 billion on Thursday, while traded volume fell to 161.89 million shares exchanged against 178.69 million.
TASI’s green close was backed by 11 sectors, with energy coming in first with a 1.1% gain followed by healthcare, and food and staples retailing with 0.5% each.
The material sector came in fourth, adding 0.4%, while the telecoms and banks sectors grew 0.36% and 0.3%, respectively.
On the other hand, nine sectors traded lower, led by media and publishing, which retreated 5.5%, followed by real estate with 1.3% and insurance with 1.2%.
Stock-wise, Saudi Vitrified Clay Pipes led TASI’s risers, jumping 6.7%, whereas Saudi Research and Marketing led fallers, sliding 6%.
Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) made up for over half of Tadawul’s total turnover with SAR 674.32 million, while Dar Al Arkan was the most active in terms of traded volume with 31.2 million shares exchanged.
In the meantime, the main index of the Nomu-Parallel Market, NOMU, dropped 1.35%, shedding 42.99 points to close at 3,135.99 points.
Turnover on Nomu slid to SAR 969,750 on Sunday from SAR 3.39 million on Thursday, while traded volume plunged to 29,990 shares traded from 202,900 in the previous session.
Baazeem led Nomu’s fallers, losing 2.9%, while Al Samaani was the only gainer adding 4%.
