By: Thabet Shehata

Riyadh – Mubasher: The Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) finished Sunday with a positive performance after its benchmark Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) surged 81.5 points, or 1%, to 8,291.66 points, registering its highest level since the end of July 2018.

The consumer services levelled up 2.4%, while the banking sector rose 1.67% as Al Rajhi Bank’s stock increased 2.07% to SAR 98.60, and the National Commercial Bank’s (NCB) stock grew 3.24% to SAR 51.

TASI has managed to exceed resistance levels after its recent growth, boosted by the good performance of the banking sector, economist Mohamed Al-Maimouni told Mubasher.

Al Rajhi Bank’s capital hike, discussions about a potential merger between the National Commercial Bank (NCB) and Riyad Bank, along with Bank AlJazira’s dividend distributions are positive factors for the sector, Al-Maimouni added.

The analyst forecast the Saudi bourse to carry over into its positive trend to target the level of 8,400 and 8,500 points, respectively, amid stability in global stock markets and the positive development that props up blue-chip stocks.

TASI’s liquidity slumped to SAR 2.9 billion ($780 million), from SAR 3.2 billion ($853.87 million) in the session before, while trading volume fell to 118.55 million shares, from 134.56 million in the session before.

The Saudi Cable Company’s stock led risers with 10%, while the stock of Saudi Enaya Cooperative Insurance Company (Enaya) was the worst performer after losing 9.9%.

Al Rajhi Bank’s stock led the main market in terms of traded value after generating SAR 384.12 million, while Dar Alarkan Real Estate Development Co’s stock, which dropped 0.21%, posted the highest trading volume after 8.61 million shares were exchanged.

In the meantime, the main index of the Nomu secondary market, NOMU, jumped 31.3 points, or 1.2%, closing the first session of the week at 2,599.06 points.

National Building and Marketing Co’s stock was Nomu’s best performer after surging 19.15%.

Translated by: Mohammad Hesham Azab