Saudi Arabia's equity market ended Tuesday's trading in positive territory, with the Tadawul All Share up 0.92% at the close. Sector strength in Insurance, Financial Services and Real Estate Development contributed to the advance across the exchange.
The session's top performers included AL-BABTAIN POWER &TELECOM CO (TADAWUL:2320), which jumped 9.94% or 6.10 points to finish at 67.45. Jazan Development Co. (TADAWUL:6090) gained 9.72% or 0.80 points to close at 9.03, and Al-Rajhi Cooperative Insurance (TADAWUL:8230) rose 8.27% or 7.80 points to end the day at 102.10.
On the downside, several petrochemical and refining names weighed on the session. Rabigh Refining & Petrochemical Co (TADAWUL:2380) declined 7.44% or 0.70 points to close at 8.71. Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Company (TADAWUL:2350) fell 4.80% or 0.25 points to end at 4.96, and Sahara International Petrochemical Company SJSC (TADAWUL:2310) dropped 4.58% or 0.70 points to finish at 14.57.
Market breadth favored advancing issues, with 214 stocks higher versus 111 decliners and 15 unchanged on the Saudi Arabia Stock Exchange.
Commodities markets moved notably during the session. Crude oil for April delivery was down 4.94% or 4.68 to $90.09 a barrel. Brent crude for May delivery fell 5.94% or 5.88 to $93.08 a barrel. Precious metals saw upward movement as the April Gold Futures contract rose 1.79% or 91.16 to trade at $5,194.86 a troy ounce.
Currency pairs involving the Saudi riyal showed small moves: EUR/SAR was down 0.14% at 4.36, while USD/SAR was essentially unchanged, moving 0.03% to 3.75.
On broader currency indicators, the US Dollar Index Futures traded lower by 0.44% at 98.73.
This trading day underlines divergent performance across sectors within the Tadawul: insurers and financial-service related names led gains, while several petrochemical and refining companies posted the largest losses. Market participants registered a clear tilt toward advancing issues in terms of stock counts, even as commodities such as crude oil moved materially lower and gold futures rose.