Saudi Tadawul stays almost unchanged 

(MENAFN - Arab News) The contest between bulls and bears ended without any significant change at Saudi stock market yesterday as Tadawul index retreated to 6,828.19 points, which was roughly where it started the session.

The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) wavering in the North-South within a range of 29 points, closed just below the break-even line losing a nominal 1.34 points or 0.02 percent.

All sectors performed in a mixed fashion, with seven sectors accumulating an aggregate of 147 points and eight sectors trimming 243 points collectively. One of the best performing sectors was Retail which rose to 51 points or 0.68 percent for the day.

The media and publishing sector changed its position from top performer of previous day to the worst performing sector of the day, down 3.86 percent. The sector shedding its entire gains of previous day closed at 2,778.62.
Five out of top 10 heavy weight stocks closed in the upward territory. Saudi Arabia Fertilizers Co. (SAFCO) and Kingdom Holding performed well relatively, achieving a daily growth of 1.4 percent and 1.23 percent respectively.

The market breadth was slightly negative, with 63 stocks witnessing advances and 70 others marking a decline.

Insurance companies led the top gainer and loser charts at Tadawul. Sanad Insu-rance and ACE Arabia Insu-rance made the biggest jumps among all Saudi companies, rising by 8.84 percent and 8.43 percent respectively.

Sanad with trades over 6.3 million shares also positioned itself among the most active stocks, closing the day at SR 32 and ranking second.

On the contrary, Amana Cooperative Insurance suffered worst of all equities for the third straight day, showing a further reduction of SR 17.5 or 9.97 percent to close at SR 158.