By: Thabet Shehata
Mubasher: The main index of the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) lost 1.82% or 129.38 points to reach 6,969.26 points by the week ended 9 February as compared to the week ended 2 February.
Market cap shrank by SAR 25.46 billion ($6.79 billion) to reach SAR 1.63 trillion ($434.92 billion) this week from SAR 1.66 ($441.71 billion) a week ago.
The healthcare segment led the weekly decliners with 4.3%, followed by the banks segment which lost 3% on the 2.46% fall of Al Raji Bank.
Meanwhile, the utilities sector gained 3.85% on the back of Saudi Electricity Co which rose by 4.4% to SAR 23.26.
Liquidity decreased by 8.66% to SAR 19.1 billion ($5.09 billion) this week from SR 20.9 billion ($5.58 billion) a week ago. Trading volume shrank by 6.74% to 1.04 billion shares from 1.11 billion in the previous week.
Etihad Atheeb Telecommunication lost 14% to SAR 3.31 to be the top weekly loser, while Lazurde was the top winner with a growth of 10.26% to SAR 25.03.
Al Inma Bank was the most active stock on which 158 million shares were traded at a value of SAR 2.26 billion. The stock retreated by 0.62% to SAR 14.48.
The Saudi stock market has been in a filtration process in order to redirect sectors; however, the market is still in a downward trend in line with building positions, capital market analyst Emad Al-Rasheed said.
The main index will see support at the 6,827-point level in the coming period, to be followed by 6,540 points as a second support level, the analyst added. If the market rises, the index may face resistance at 7,007 and 7,290 points respectively, he noted.
Filing Aramco for an IPO will affect the market negatively due to the size of the subscription, which will need liquidity to be available and enough to lighten the pressure on the market, Al-Rasheed noted.
