By Mohamed Abu Meleeh
Riyadh – Mubasher: Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) continued its bull run to the third successive day, during which it gained 5.38% or 359.4 points to offset the losses seen in the previous three sessions.
The market recorded today its biggest gains in four months, as the main index rose by 2.61% or 178.9 points to close above the 7,000 level for the first time in five sessions.
The banks sector led the way on gains for the second straight day, as it is seen benefitting most from the decision of the U.S. Federal Reserve to raise interest rate.
The Fed move was followed by a decision from Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) to raise its benchmark reverse repurchase rate (repo) by 25 basis points to 50 basis points.
The banks sector rose by much as 3.78%, which is the biggest one-day gain since 25 August.
Bank stocks rose collectively, as Al Rajhi, NCB and Samba gained 6%, 2.08% and 3.14% respectively.
The market liquidity amounted to SAR 7.76 billion, of which the banks sector dominated 35.8%. It was followed by petrochemical industries with 13% and real estate development with 11.3%.
Traded value rose by 31.7% to SAR 7.76 billion from SAR 5.89 billion yesterday. Traded volume also increased by 39.5% to 389.5 million shares from 279.2 million shares.
Advancing stocks were topped by Taiba (+9.61%), then Shaker (+9.32%) and Bupa Arabia (+6.65%), while declining ones were led by Saudi Printing (-4.85%), then Paper (-4.34%) and Almarai (-2.36%).
