Commenting on Tadawul's upward march, Basil M. Al-Ghalayini, CEO of BMG Financial Group, said: "This increase in the Tadawul index is an indication of investors' appetite in the local markets." In the absence of stable regional economies, it is increasingly becoming a promising and attractive market, he added.
"Due to a slowdown in the real estate market, investors are now moving toward equities," Al-Ghalayini added.
Top ten market cap companies ended the day in a mixed fashion. The losses made by the Riyad Bank (-1.16 percent), Kingdom Holding Co. (-0.91 percent) and market leader SABIC (0.75 percent) being offset by rise in SAMBA (+1.49 percent) and Al-Rajhi Bank (+0.97 percent).
Sector indices at Saudi stock market ended the day with modest gains. Banking sector remained at top showing an increment of 164.79 points, or 1.03 percent, 16,219.94 from 16,055.16. The Media & Publishing sector switched its position from top performer of previous day to the worst performing sector of the day, down 1.64 percent.
Turnover at Tadawul went high, trading volume reached 541.8 million shares traded, a 7.4 percent increase over previous day's volume when 504.3 million shares changed hands. SABIC (Saudi Basic Industries Corp.) with a turnover of more than SR747.9 million, remained as most active scrip for the day. On the other hand, Zain KSA with 80.3 million shares occupied the title of volume leader.
Decliners outnumbered the advancers by a margin of 89 to 45 and the prices of 15 companies remained unchanged.
Bank Albilad with 5.4 percent growth occupied the title of top gainer of the day. It was among 30 Saudi crips, which hit 52-week high on Sunday. Taiba Holding Co. is staying in green zone for the eighth consecutive day. On the worst side, Mohammad Al-Mojil Group hit a 26-week low and with 9.95 percent decrease remained as the biggest loser.
On Sunday, Capital Market Authority (CMA) announced the approval to Tokyo Marine Saudia initial public offering (IPO) to put up its 6,000,000 shares for public subscription.
