Tadawul turnover exceeds SR15.3bn

A situation of indecision appears to be continuing between bulls and bears as Saudi equities reflected a sideways walk for most of the sessions last week. The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) changed its direction yesterday and dived in the south to close at 7,895.36, down 35.22 points or 0.44 percent over the previous close. Sector indices at Saudi stock market ended the day with mild losses as they have been unable to gather any upward momentum. Only three sectors including Media and Publishing - the best performer (up 2.46 percent) - turned green, accumulating 143.91 points for the day. On the other hand, twelve sectors lost 361.63 points with Energy & Utilities performed worst for the third consecutive day and reduced 1.5 percent to close at 5,352.48 points. Most of heavy weights closed in red, where Saudi Electricity Co. (SECO) performed worst for the fourth straight day and dipped 1.68 percent. Saudi Telecom Co. ranked second, down 1.5 percent. Saudi Arabian Fertilizers and Kingdom Holding among top 10 market cap companies continued to play well for the second consecutive day, advancing by 2.82 percent and 2.43 percent respectively. Share trading activity remained roughly 4 percent higher than that of Tuesday. Tadawul volume surged to 620.5 million shares traded. Furthermore, a persistent increase in Saudi stock market liquidity appeared and turnover reached to a significant level of SR15.3 billion. Alinma Bank continued its leading position and remained a most active stock for the second consecutive day on Wednesday. Its volume set sold about 129.7 million shares, representing 21 percent share of relative market. It also intensified the liquidity at Tadawul by contributing SR2.1 billion or 13 percent of overall turnover. Decliners outnumbered the advancers by a margin of 92 to 40 and the prices of 16 companies remained unchanged. United Wire Factories Company - Aslak and Nama Chemicals - outdid rest of its peers as prices of both rallied to a maximum growth of 10 percent to close at SR52.25 and SR22.05 respectively. Enaya Insurance and Atheeb Telecom posted the largest losses among Saudi equities, tumbled 9.8 percent for the day.