Saudi\'s agriculture & food sector surges 2.67%

The Saudi stock market continued its upward march and managed a third straight rise yesterday, adding nearly 26 points further. The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) jumped into the green territory earlier yesterday and spending entire session in the same region closed higher at 7,404.12 points, up 0.35 percent from its previous day close. It gained maximum 42 points during the session. On an YTD basis, TASI has accumulated more than six hundred points. Market cap indices closed the day in mixed territories. Six out of Tadawul\'s 15 sectors finished to the upside, showing a collection of 561.5 points. Agriculture & Food Industries sector remained at top showing an increase of 2.67 percent and closing at 7,814.66. Retail sector followed it, advancing 1.6 percent in a session. Banking sector added considerable 168 points, up more than one percent. On the negative side, nine sectors ended in red, trimming 296 points collectively. Insurance sector posted the largest losses, falling 1.75 percent to close at 1,220.80. Saudi Indian Company for Cooperative Insurance recorded the biggest losses, going down 6.7 percent. Most of heavyweights closed in green, with Kingdom Holding surging by 3.3 percent, Samba Financial Group 3.2 percent and SABB 2.4 percent. However, market breadth with advance-decline ratio of 0.35:1 remained negative. Almarai Co. came out as key gainer among all Saudi stocks, marching higher by 5.7 percent for the day. Market activity was high; more than SR6 billion were poured into the market. Trading volume was impressive, with 251 million shares changed hands in the market, a significant 16.5 percent growth over the previous level. The 50-day average for trading volume is closer to 220.6 million shares. But upside-downside volume ratio of 0.6:1 remained slightly negative. Source: ArabNews