By: Thabet Shehata
Riyadh – Mubasher: The Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) saw a negative performance in the week ended 2 February 2017 amid the decline of liquidity, weighed down by the fall of banks and telecom sectors.
The market maintained a downward trend this week due to profit-taking on some stocks, especially of the services and insurance companies, capital market analyst Salem Alchwimman said.
The general index fell 0.51% or 36.24 points to close the week at 7,098.64 points.
The main index sees support at 7,086 and 7,001 points respectively, while its resistance stands 7,132 and 7,192 points respectively, Alchwimman added.
Market capitalisation amounted to SAR 1.656 trillion ($441.7 billion) this week, compared to SAR 1.669 trillion ($445 billion) last week.
The commercial and professional services sector led losers with a 4.08% decline as Saudi Airlines Catering Company, and Saudi Printing and Packaging declined 4.72% or 0.11% to SAR 90.11 and SAR 18.57 respectively.
The telecom sector retreated 2.8% after Saudi Telecom Company (STC), Mobily and Zain slid 3.5%, 3.66% and 0.79% to reach SAR 66.77, SAR 21.85 and SAR 8.80 respectively.
The banks sector lost 0.81% as National Commercial Bank - Saudi Arabia (NCB) tumbled 2.98% to SAR 42.70. Meanwhile, Al Rajhi Bank rose 2.51% to SAR 66.66.
The materials sector sank 0.24% as SABIC fell 0.44% to SAR 96.50. The real estate management and development sector also decreased 0.24% after Dar Al-Arkan Real Estate Development levelled down 3.57% to SAR 5.95.
On the other hand, the media sector rose 3.62% as Tihama Advertising and Public Relations, and Saudi Research and Marketing Group advanced 3.68% and 1.84% respectively.
Turnover amounted to SAR 20.9 billion ($5.58 billion) this week, compared to SAR 24.84 billion ($6.62 billion) last week. Trading volume reached 1.11 billion shares, compared to 1.38 billion shares.
Al Sorayai Trading and Industrial Group was the worst performer after falling 13.28% to SAR 11.95, while Allianz Saudi Fransi Cooperative Insurance (8040) topped gainers after rising 39.47% to SAR 43.46.
Al Inma Bank was the value leader after generating SAR 2.54 billion from the exchange of 170.16 million shares.
Translated by: Julian Nabil
