Bulls-bears war ends in a standoff at Tadawul

A huge tug of war was going on between the bulls and bears at Saudi stock market last week but it ended in a standoff as the market retreated all the way to 6,999.53 points, which was roughly where it started the week.
Saudi Arabia's benchmark Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) added a single point for the entire week, wavering in a range of 97 points. Total market capitalization of Saudi stock exchange remained nearly unchanged from its previous level of SR 1.43 trillion.
The market cap indices ended the week in mixed territories.
Sectoral performance was mixed during the week, as the losses made by the Banks & Financial Services (-1.68 percent) and Multi-Investment (-1.16 percent) being offset by rise in Media (+2.54 percent) and Telecom (+2.03 percent). Eight out of Tadawul's 15 sectors finished to the upside, accumulating 359 points for the week. While, seven sectors witnessed a negative change, trimming 436 points jointly.
Heavyweights also performed in a mixed fashion. The Etihad Etisalat Co. (Mobily) and Saudi Arabia Fertilizers Co. played well relatively, closing the week up by 3.69 percent and 1.31 percent respectively.
On the negative side, SABB and Al-Rajhi Bank played worst rest of the heavyweight peers, going down by 3.28 percent and 2.92 percent respectively.
Weekly market breadth was unfavorable, with 59 stocks witnessing advances and 85 others marking a decline. Furthermore, upside-downside volume ratio of 0.33:1 remained negative.
Saudi Indian Company for Co-operative Insurance (WAFA Insurance) and Basic Chemical Industries made the biggest weekly jumps among all Saudi equities, surging by 17.2 percent and 15.1 percent respectively.
On the other hand, Alalamiya Cooperative Insurance — the best performing company of previous week — suffered worst of all equities this time, showing a reduction of SR 7.0 or 8.24 percent.
Investors’ interest into recently traded Northern Region Cement reduced, as Dar Alarkan Real Estate regained its most active status last week. Dar Alarkan liquidated more than 83 million shares which accounted for 11 percent of the Tadawul volume.
Most of the major benchmark indices at GCC stock markets ended the week in green.
The benchmark GulfBase GCC General Index closed the week slightly lower at 4,067.37 points level, dropping 11.74 points or 0.29 percent for the entire week.