Tadawul index stays almost flat

Saudi stocks hovered in small gains and losses yesterday, as the Tadawul index with a positive change of 2.65 points remained almost flat. The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) dived in the south earlier yesterday but it closed in the green at 6,968.31 points, which was roughly where it started the day. The index traded in the range of 44 points yesterday, showing a maximum rise of 15.2 points. Sectoral performance was mixed, as the losses made by the Hotel & Tourism (-2.43 percent) and Agriculture (-0.70 percent) being offset by rise in Transport (+2.2 percent) and Insurance (+0.97 percent). Three out of top 10 market cap companies ended the day in green, with Saudi Arabian Fertilizers Co. (SAFCO) rose 0.8 percent for the day. While, an equal number of heavyweights closed lower, with SABB fell 2.71 percent to close at SR 32.4. Furthermore, four heavyweight stocks including SABIC (Saudi Basic Industries Corp.) ended without any change. The market breadth was slightly negative as out of 154 stocks traded yesterday, 54 were up and 75 were down while 25 remained unchanged. AMANA Insurance made the biggest jumps among all Saudi equities, surging 9.9 percent for the second straight day. Arabian Shield Insurance and Alalamiya Insurance followed it, rising by 7.7 percent and 6.8 percent respectively. The trading activity remained roughly 21 percent lower than that of Monday. More than 200.8 million shares worth SR5.1 billion changed hands on the Saudi stock market. From : Arabnews