By: Bedour Al Raee

Riyadh – Mubasher: The Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) ended Monday near its highest level in 35 trading session, supported by the activity of the banks' sector stocks and the gains of the insurance sector.

Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) soared 0.91% to close at the level of 8,000.33 points, its highest level since the beginning of October.

Traded volumes registered 110.373 million shares with a total turnover of SAR 2.68 billion, through 112,655 transactions.

Financial analyst Salem Baegaga said that the market today successfully exceeded the 8,000- point level, which represented a major physiological resistance level, thus reflecting optimism among investors as the initial public offering (IPO) of Saudi Aramco entered into its second day.

Baegaga, an accounting professor at Taif University, told Mubasher that insurance companies saw a very positive performance today, supported by increasing the insurance coverage of vehicles.

The insurance index topped the rising market sectors today, adding 2.12%, with four insurance stocks leading the session’s gainers. Enaya was the biggest riser and surged 9.86%, followed by Gulf Union, Amana, with 9.75% and 9.51%, respectively, ahead of AXA that increased by 7.81%.

The banks' sector also went up by 1.38%, supported by a 1.1% rise of Al Rajhi, which registered the highest turnover with SAR 374.72 billion.

Telecom and materials ascended 0.81% and 0.55%, respectively, while food retailing led the decliners and lost 1.97%.

Meanwhile, the main index of the Parallel Market (NOMU) edged up by 1.28% or 58.48 points and closed today’s session at the level of 4,631.75 points.