Riyadh – Mubasher: The Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) ended Wednesday’s trading session in decline, after four consecutive rises, on the back of losses by energy, materials, and banking stocks.

The Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) lost 0.5% or 42.25 points and closed at 8,432.56 points.

While traded volumes increased to 217.025 million shares, compared with 189.615 million shares on Tuesday, traded values declined to SAR 4.282 billion, down from SAR 4.44 billion yesterday.

The energy sector lost 0.69%, while materials and banks decreased by 0.51% and 0.31%, respectively.

Telecom services dropped 0.8%, while food and staples retailing was the biggest losing sector index and fell by 3.74%.

On the other hand, the pharma sector gained 1.58%, followed by food and beverages with 0.90%.

As for the stocks’ performance, 106 closed in red, while 75 stocks ended the session in the red zone.

Hail Cement topped the gainers and surged by 6.47%. Meanwhile, Dar Al Arkan continued to lead the losers and dropped 5.99%, and was the most actively traded stock with 40.28 million shares, recording the highest turnover at SAR 415.989 million.

The Nomu Parallel Market lost 3.89% and closed at 7,072.29 points.