The Saudi stock market extended gains for the third consecutive session.

The benchmark Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) dug in at 9,390.26 points, adding roughly 45 points or 0.48 percent on Monday. It performed within one percent trading range.

Most of the major sectors closed in the green territory, accumulating an aggregate of 619 points. Energy & Utilities showed the best performance among all sectors, advancing 1.67 percent and closing at 6,223.76.

Banks & Financial Services sector added considerable 294.3 points, up 1.41 percent to cross 21,000-mark.

On the other hand, Media and Publishing came out as the biggest decliner, shedding 1.48 percent to 2,379.20.

Most of heavy weights witnessed a positive change, with National Commercial Bank surging by 3.26 percent, Al-Rajhi Bank 2.53 percent and bellwether SABIC (Saudi Basic Industries Corp.) 0.86 percent.

Market breadth with advance-decline ratio of 0.73:1 remained slightly negative.

Saudi Steel Pipe Company turned in a splendid performance among all Saudi stocks, soaring up 9.23 percent to close the day at SR30.53. Interestingly, the company volume went 10.2 times high over its 50-day average.

Herfy Food Services Co. was another significant gainer, which advanced more than four percent. The company share price climbed to a new all-time high SR125 before closing at SR122.49.

On the other side of the spectrum, Middle East Specialized Cables Co. became the biggest loser of the day, down 9.89 percent.

Trading activity was led by Dar Alarkan Real Estate Development, which represented a 30.7 relative market share in terms of volume and 14.4 percent in terms of liquidity.

Its total turnover set sold approximately 160 million shares worth SR 1.69 billion, closing slightly above the par-value.

Market volume went up 9.3 percent and traded 522 million shares as compared to previous day’s 477.6 million shares.

Total liquidity reached to SR11.7 billion, an increase of 31.3 percent over the 50-day average level.