By: Thabet Shehata
Riyadh – Mubasher: The Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) concluded April on a positive note for the third month in a row, registering the highest gains in 12 months on the back of an all-sector rise.
The general index surged 9.36% or 582.7 points to close at 6,805.84 points, up from March's closing of 6,223.13 points.
The market closed on a high note in a total of 13 sessions from the 20-session month, and on a low note in 7 sessions.
Tadawul recorded its highest daily gain of 2.53% on 25 April, coinciding with the Kingdom's announcement of its "2030 Vision". On the other hand, the market saw its sharpest daily loss on 26 April, when it fell 1.62%.
M-o-M trading growth
Tadawul's gains during April coincided with a minor growth of 3% in average turnover month-on-month, reaching SAR 5.88 billion ($1.57 billion) per session in April, compared to SAR 5.7 billion ($1.52 billion) on average in March.
Meanwhile, average daily traded volume was up 4.5% in April to 335.3 million shares compared to 321 million shares in March.
All-sector rise
At the sector-level, all the Saudi market's sectors ended the month in the green, spearheaded by the industrial investment sector, which leaped 19.83%, followed by hotels and tourism, and petrochemicals which jumped 18.87% and 14.16%, respectively.
The banking and cement sectors grew 9.15% and 4.73%, respectively during the month, while the telecom sector inched up 0.5%.
AlRajhi tops blue chip gains
Leading stocks boosted Tadawul's rise during April, led by AlRajhi bank, which grew 16.3% to SAR 60.35, followed by SABIC and NCB, which were up 13.56% and 9.3% to SAR 84.99 and SAR 44.48, respectively.
On the other hand, Etihad Etisalat "Mobily" ended the month in the red, shedding 0.89% to SAR 63.67, while SAFCO and Savola retreated 0.6% and 4.17% to SAR 65.87 and SAR 40.01, respectively.
Translated by: Nada Adel Sobhi
