RIYADH — Tadawul All Share Index (TASI), the Saudi benchmark stock index, recorded a fall of 209 points (1.7 percent) on Wednesday, closing down at 12,044 points. Total turnover reached nearly SR 8.1 billion. The energy sector was the most resilient compared to the rest of the sectors, while the banking sector declined by about 2.49 percent. Oil prices rose on Wednesday by about 3 percent, reaching $75 per barrel, recording their highest level in a month. This rise comes amid geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, which resulted in fluctuations in all Arab financial markets. All Gulf and Arab markets declined at the end of Wednesday's trading by percentages ranging between 0.4 and 1.7. The market session witnessed a decline in most of the traded stocks; led by the shares of Al-Rajhi Bank and Al-Ahli (Saudi National Bank) by 3 percent at SR84.90 for the former, and 2 percent at SR33.80 for the latter. Shares of MBC, SACO, Saudi Ceramics, Amana Insurance, Herfy Foods, Riyadh Cement, TALCO, Maadaniyah, and Jamjoom Pharma ended the trading with declines ranging between 3 percent and 6 percent. As for the share of Saudi Aramco, the highest weight on the index, it remained stable at SR27.20. Luberef and Kingdom Holding closed at SR126.80 and SR9.77, with a fall of 4 percent and two percent respectively, as the stocks traded ex-dividend on Wednesday. The share of Retal rose by 1 percent at SR15.46, and the company announced the signing of agreements with Roshan to develop residential units in Riyadh. The share of Maaden also rose by about 1 percent at SR49.25.
