Saudi Arabia\'s market cap declines to 1.44tr

Saudi Arabia’s benchmark stock index reflecting a 3-day fall during the week, closed at 7,034.74 points last week, trimming only 28.2 points or 0.4 percent for the entire week. The index went 31 points above and 62 points below the break-even line during the week. On an YTD basis, TASI registered a positive return of 233.5 points or 3.43 percent. The market capitalization of Saudi stock exchange reached to SR 1.44 trillion, decreasing nearly half percent from the previous week’s value. Only small cap indices moved upward slightly last week. Sector indices performed in a mixed fashion, with six sectors accumulating an aggregate of 514 points and nine sectors paring 493 points collectively. Hotel and Tourism sector maintained its upward momentum for the fourth consecutive week, surging over three hundred points or 3.3 percent to 9,566.22. Transport was another significant gainer, advancing 2.54 percent for the week. Insurance the single declining sector of previous week also turned green last week, rising 1.43 percent and ranking third. Media and Publishing sector, on the contrary, posted the largest losses, tumbling 6.4 percent to close the week at 2,869.08. Most of heavyweights ended lower last week, with Kingdom holding dipping by 2.83 percent, Saudi Arabia Fertilizers Co. (SAFCO) 1.12 percent and Mobily 1.01 percent. On the positive side, SABB and Riyad Bank managed for a weekly gain, advancing 1.19 percent and 0.22 percent respectively. Advances outnumbered the decliners by a margin of 79 to 70 and the prices of 7 companies remained unchanged. Furthermore, upside-downside volume ratio of 1.5:1 remained positive. Weqaya Insurance and Wafa Insurance made the biggest weekly jumps among all Saudi equities, posting a growth of 14.25 percent and 11.43 percent respectively. Tadawul weekly volume improved further by 2.6 percent, liquidating more than 1.1 billion shares. The volume chart was led by Northern Region Cement with trades of over 162.7 million shares, a relative market share of 15 percent. Most of the major benchmark indices at GCC stock markets ended the week in green. The benchmark GulfBase GCC General Index closed the week higher at 4,101.56 points level, adding 5.3 points or 0.13 percent for the entire week. Source: Arab News