Ahmed Al-Rasheed from Riyadh
Saudi stocks fell for the second session, to close at 7222 points, missing 62 points, by about 0.86 percent, while the MT30 index, which measures the performance of the leading stocks, fell 0.9 percent to close at 1015 points, losing nine points. The decline came under semi-collective pressure from sectors with a decline in market activity, as liquidity decreased 9 percent by about 587 million riyals to reach 5.7 billion riyals. The weakness of the bullish trend in the market began in the last sessions, to increase the severity of the decline, and with it, the market lost its levels above the 100-day average, which makes the market vulnerable to decline until the levels of 7070 points that constitute support for the index. So far, the basic data did not improve, with the repetition of profitability increasing and the profitability of companies declining, so far the results for the first quarter show a decline in the consolidated profits by about 27 percent, bringing the profits of 103 companies to 75 billion riyals.
Overall market performance
The general index opened at 7285 points, trading between high and low. The lowest point was 7202 points, losing 1.1 percent, while the highest point was at 7,311 points, up 0.37 percent. At the end of the session, it closed at 7,222 points, losing 62 points, about 0.86 percent. Liquidity declined 9 percent by about 587 million riyals to reach 5.7 billion riyals, at a rate of 22,000 riyals per transaction. The traded shares decreased by 16% by about 56 million shares, to reach 286 million traded shares. As for the deals, they declined by 12% by about 35 thousand deals to reach 259 thousand deals.
Sectors performance
Five sectors rose versus the rest. The top was led by "applications and technical services" by 3.3%, followed by "food production" 0.19%, and "energy" 0.16%. While the decline was led by "public utilities" by 3.9 percent, followed by "media and entertainment" 2.5 percent, and thirdly, "medicines" 2.3 percent.
The highest turnover was "banks" by about 22 percent at a value of 1.2 billion riyals, followed by "basic materials" 17 percent with a value of 990 million riyals, and thirdly "insurance" 10 percent with a value of 597 million riyals.
Stock performance
High shares topped "Jaco" by about 8.4 percent to close at 13.10 riyals, followed by "Nidec" 5.1 percent to close at 25.55 riyals, and "National" third came 5 percent to close at 22.60 riyals. On the other hand, the decline was led by "fish" by about 4.89 percent to close at 22.56 riyals, followed by "Saudi Electricity" 4.3 percent to close at 16.30 riyals, and third, "pipes", 3.7 percent to close at 13.26 riyals.
The highest turnover was "Al-Rajhi" with a value of 637 million riyals, followed by "Dar Al-Arkan" with a value of 362 million riyals, and thirdly, "SABIC" with a value of 332 million riyals.
*Economic Reports Uni
