Tadawul index retreats as descending stocks outnumber rising ones

08/05/2017 05:15 AST

Saudi Arabia stocks were lower after the close on Sunday, as losses in the Multi Investment, Building & Construction and Hotels & Tourism sectors led shares lower. At the close in Saudi Arabia, the Tadawul All Share declined 0.97% to hit a new 1-month low.

The best performers of the session on the Tadawul All Share were Etihad Atheeb Telecommunication, which rose 9.38% or 0.750 points to trade at 8.750 at the close. Meanwhile, The Mediterranean&Gulf Insurance Co added 3.02% or 0.65 points to end at 22.15 and Nama Chemicals Co. was up 1.41% or 0.05 points to 3.60 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Zamil Industrial Investment Co, which fell 4.62% or 1.40 points to trade at 28.90 at the close. Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Company declined 3.95% or 0.35 points to end at 8.50 and Anaam International Holding Group (SE:4061) was down 3.71% or 0.65 points to 16.85.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Saudi Arabia Stock Exchange by 152 to 19 and 7 ended unchanged.

Crude oil for June delivery was up 2.17% or 0.99 to $46.51 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in July rose 2.17% or 1.05 to hit $49.43 a barrel, while the June Gold Futures contract rose 0.03% or 0.41 to trade at $1229.01 a troy ounce.

Meanwhile, macro and political news were the main drivers for last week’s global and regional performance, Al Masah Capital said in its latest Weekly Report. Dow Jones broke 21,000 points and S&P500 reached its all-time high on the back of a fall in unemployment rates and more job additions. European markets inched up as well, with optimism about Macron winning the French election.

For the first time this year, crude oil broke the USD 50 mark downward reaching a low of USD 46.69 per barrel driven by fears regarding the supply glut. Saudi Arabia’s announcement that Russia is ready to join OPEC in extending the supply cuts managed to make oil rebound to USD 49.10 a barrel on Friday.

Over the week, regional markets had mixed performances, with Qatar and Kuwait being the worst performers among their peers, falling by 1.5% each. Oman, Saudi and Bahrain came next in losses with each declining by 0.9%, 0.3% and 0.1% respectively over the week. Abu Dhabi was the best performer in the region with a 2.3% increase over the week followed by Egypt at +1.5% and Dubai with a +0.1% return.

For the coming period, oil will remain the main driver for regional market performance, reflected by increasing investment cautiousness and thin trading volumes.

Saudi Gazette