Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — The Saudi Stock Exchange’s main index, Tadawul All Share Index (TASI), declined by 52.23 points (0.43 percent) reaching 12,128.14 points at the end of Wednesday’s session, with a liquidity of SR7.45 billion ($2 billion), affected by the energy sector, which fell by about one percent.

The volume of traded shares reached 446 million stocks, shared by more than 590,000 transactions, and the stocks of 46 companies recorded an increase in their value, while the shares of 180 companies closed down.

The share of Saudi Aramco, the heaviest weight in the index, decreased by 0.90 percent, at SR27.65, with trades of about 13 million shares.

The shares of Aldrees and Arabian Drilling also declined by 1.91 and 1.15 percent, to SR128.20 and SR120 respectively.

The share of Jazadco, which operates in the agricultural, industrial and real estate sectors, witnessed a decline of more than 2 percent to SR13.84, after the company announced the permanent closure of the first production line for bottling drinking water.

Meanwhile, the share of Al Rajhi Bank rose by 0.56 percent, to SR89 after announcing the acquisition of 65 percent of the Darham application.

The share of Asmak topped the most profitable companies, jumping by a maximum of 10 percent to SR24.38. It was followed by the share of Al Baha by 7.7 percent at SR0.14, as the company announced the recommendation of the Board of Directors to reverse the nominal value of the share to one riyal and reduce the capital.

The Saudi Parallel Stock Index (Nomu) closed down 98.75 points, at 25946.20 points, with trades worth SR32 million, and the volume of traded shares amounted to more than two million shares, divided into 3600 transactions.