Riyadh – Mubasher: The Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) closed Monday in the red zone after its benchmark Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) plunged 0.99% or 67.93 points to reach 6,804.23 points.

Tadawul is facing important support level at 6,848 points, whereas closing less than this level it will push the bourse down between 6,780 and 6,630 points, especially as Tadawul is traded down the moving averages, said Iyad Aref, CEO of NamaaZone.

The level of 6,980 points is considered important ceiling for Tadawul, and exceeding it may boost the bourse, especially after Saudi Arabia announced a decrease in budget deficit in the third quarter of 2017, Aref added.

TASI trading volume amounted to 126.6 million shares on Monday, against 146.53 million shares on Sunday, while liquidity declined to SAR 2.47 billion ($658.4 million), from SAR 2.54 billion ($6.776 million).

The CEO of NamaaZone stated that the period of announcing the companies’ financial results in Q3-17 is considered good in general as the Tadawul-listed firms consolidated profits surged 12.88% to reach more than SAR 88 billion, compared to the year-ago period.  

The media sector dropped 4.9%, followed by materials with 0.99%, and banks with 0.98%.

On the other hand, the commercial and professional services, and the telecommunication services sectors inched up 0.4%, and 0.08%, respectively.

The growth in Saudi companies’ profits in Q3-17 reflects the Kingdom’s strong economy, and the economy reforms and the anti-corruption crackdown that the government started previously pushed up the country's economy.

Saudi Industrial Export Company’s (SIEC) stock levelled down 7.28% to close at SAR 14, whereas Makkah Construction and Development’s stock grew 4.63%, reaching SAR 59.20.

In the meantime, the main index of the Nomu-Parallel Market, NOMU went down 0.32% or 9.66 points, reaching 2,972.12 points.

Baazeem Trading’s stock rose 2.04%, reaching SAR 25.45, whereas Arab Sea Information System’s stock tumbled 8.63% to close at SAR 9.