Saudi stocks grind lower to below 6,900

Saudi Arabia’s stock index ground lower over the session on Sunday to its lowest close in over a month, weighed by petrochemical shares that retreated after oil prices sank last week.

The Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) dropped 1 percent to 6,855 amid scant trading volumes of SAR 2.4 billion.

Heavyweight SABIC closed nearly 1 percent lower to SAR 96. Saudi Kayan dropped nearly 5 percent to SAR 8.45 and Saudi Industrial Investment Group fell more than 3 percent SAR 18.85.

Jassim Al-Jubran, analyst at Aljazira Capital said in a technical note on Sunday: "A downtrend is possible toward support levels at 6825–6700 points consecutively. Most important upward break points are at 7035 and then to 7290 points."

Nearly all sectors closed in negative territory. Elsewhere, Zamil was top loser, slumping 4.5 percent to SAR 28.90. Farm Superstores also dropped 3.8 percent to SAR 28.90.

Maaden slipped to SAR 41.60. The miner company made a Q1 net profit of SAR 275.6 million, up 42 percent year-on-year.

Meanwhile, Saudi Telecom rose 0.5 percent to SAR 68.75. The telco posted a 5 percent rise in Q1 net profit to SAR 2.5 billion, beating most analyst estimates.

SADAFCO extended gains from last week, up 1 percent to SAR 127. The board has proposed to pay 40 percent cash dividend for FY16/17.

Write to Brinda Darasha at brinda.d@argaamplus.com