Saudi Arabia's stock market finished in negative territory on Wednesday, with the Tadawul All Share slipping 0.92% at the close as several key sectors recorded declines.
Market participants saw some pockets of strength among individual listings, but those gains were not enough to offset weakness across sectors identified as drivers of the session's losses - notably Cement, Energy & Utilities and Financial Services.
Top performers
- Gas Arabian Services Company SCJSC (TADAWUL:4146) led the gainers, climbing 6.06% - an increase of 0.95 points to finish the day at 16.62.
- ARTEX Industrial Investment Co (TADAWUL:2340) added 5.07%, or 0.54 points, ending the session at 11.20.
- Almajed 4 Oud Company SJSC (TADAWUL:4165) rose 4.49%, up 6.10 points to close at 142.00.
Largest decliners
- Yanbu Cement Co. (TADAWUL:3060) registered the steepest drop among major names, falling 6.45%, or 1.07 points, to close at 15.51.
- Raoom Trading Company SJSC (TADAWUL:4144) declined 4.29%, a fall of 3.00 points to 66.90 at the close.
- Al Masane Al Kobra Mining Company CJSC (TADAWUL:1322) was down 3.79%, or 2.80 points, finishing the day at 71.00.
On overall market breadth, declining issues outnumbered advancing ones by a margin of 207 to 120, while 13 stocks ended unchanged. That imbalance underpinned the downward move in the index despite select shares posting strong gains.
Commodities and currencies
Energy prices moved higher during the session. U.S. crude for July delivery rose 1.17%, up $1.03 to $89.23 per barrel. Brent crude for August delivery increased 0.94%, or $0.86, to $92.31 a barrel.
Precious metals diverged from oil's strength: the August gold futures contract fell sharply, down 2.40% or $102.93 to trade at $4,183.47 per troy ounce.
Currency pairs tied to the riyal were largely unchanged in reported moves. EUR/SAR was effectively flat, showing a 0.07% change to 4.34, and USD/SAR was unchanged at 3.75. Separately, the U.S. Dollar Index Futures was recorded down 0.07% at 99.82.
In sum, the session closed with the Tadawul All Share in negative territory amid sector-level weakness and mixed signals from commodity markets. While several individual stocks posted double-digit intra-session percentage gains or losses, the broader market tilt favored decliners at the close.