By: Thabet Shehata
Riyadh - Mubasher: The Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) ended Monday’s trading session in green, as the main index returned to gains on the back of the materials sector, with liquidity levels reaching their lowest level in more than four months.
The Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) went up by 0.12%, gaining 8.38 points, and closed at the level of 6,976.35 points, failing once again to reclaim levels above 7,000 points.
Financial analyst Rayan Al Kharashi said that Tadawul is still suffering from investors’ hesitation, which has been dominating the market.
We cannot talk about restoring positive performance until the Saudi market reaches the levels of 7,000, and then goes up to the levels of 7,100 points.
Traded values declined to SAR 3.08 billion ($820.27 million), their lowest level since 31 October 2016, compared to SAR 3.8 billion ($1.01 billion) on Sunday.
Traded volumes also decreased to 152.2 million shares down from 197 million shares in the last session.
Liquidity levels are currently weak due to the absence of any new stimulus supporting the market, Al Kharashi added.
As for the sectors' performance, the materials sector added 0.68%, as SABIC went up 1.01% to the level of SAR 98.
Pharmaceuticals increased 0.82%, as Saudi Pharmaceutical rose by nearly the same percentage to the level of SAR 37.10.
On the other hand, the telecom sector lost 0.25%, as Mobily and Zain decreased 0.46% and 0.57%, respectively, while STC saw a marginal increase of 0.05%.
The banks sector edged up 0.01%, as Al Rajhi and NCB lost 0.06% and 0.15%, closing at SAR 63.5 and 40.20, respectively.
Buruj Cooperative Insurance led the session’s gainers and surged 5%, while Petro Rabigh was the top decliner and fell by 3.2%.
SABIC was the most active in traded volume with 305.75 million shares, while Alinma registered the highest turnover with SAR 19.86 million shares.
The Saudi market still anticipates the financial results of the first quarter of 2017, as well as the trend of oil prices, which remains vague. However, it could, according to Al Kharashi, positively affect the market if it went up and exceeded $58 per barrel.
Positive Q1 results by blue chip stocks, such as Al Rajhi and SABIC, could help the market return to its gains.
