Riyadh – Mubasher: The Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) closed Thursday, the last trading session of the week, on a negative note, resuming losses on pressure from its leading sectors and amid a slight decline in liquidity levels compared to Wednesday’s session.

The benchmark Tadawul All Shares Index (TASI) shed 0.24% or 16.68 points to 7,046.17 points, maintaining its position above 7,000 points.

Turnover was down to SAR 3.6 billion ($964.5 million) on Thursday, from SAR 3.77 billion ($1.01 billion) on Wednesday, while traded volume decreased to 197.56 million shares against 211.5 million the day before.

The pharmaceutical sector led losers, falling 1.06% after SPIMACO saw a similar decline to SAR 37.40, while the banking sector lost 0.36% after Al Rajhi and National Commercial Bank (NCB) sank 0.11% and 0.6% to SAR 64.75 and SAR 41.40, respectively.

The basic industries sector shed 0.35% after SABIC and SAFCO declined 0.52% and 1.42% to SAR 97.25 and SAR 71.50, respectively.

Moreover, the telecommunications sector decreased 0.6% after all its stocks ended in red, with the exception of Etihad Atheeb (GO), which remained unchanged. STC slipped 0.06% to SAR 65.75 and Mobily retreated 0.86% to SAR 21.90.

At the level of the stocks, Al Ahlia Cooperative Insurance topped the market’s 93 fallers, sliding 6.83% to SAR 13.10, while Arabian Shield was the top gainer, adding 10% and closing at SAR 62.75.

SABIC was the most active in terms of traded value with SAR 260.5 million, whereas Alinma Bank was the most traded in terms of traded volume with 15.7 million shares changing hands during the session.