Saudi shares continued their bull run in the week to Thursday, hitting another record high on strong results from top firms and still-lofty oil prices. The all-share index of the largest Arab bourse rose 3.5 percent to a new high of 7,463.97 points in the week to Thursday, up from 7,210 last week. The index is up 68.2 percent so far this year. Turnover fell to SR28.54 billion ($7.61 billion) from SR33.6 billion a week earlier. Bakheet Financial Advisors (BFA) said the banking sector had a particularly good week. Saudi Arabia's second largest listed bank, Riyad Bank, saw its stock price rise by 16 percent to SR515.25 on the back of strong profit growth. Decliners outnumbered gainers by 42-30 during the week, as investors sold off small-cap stocks. BFA said it expected trading to begin settling down as the holiday marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan approached.
