RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index edged up for the second consecutive day as it gained 53.58 points or 0.43 percent to close at 12,746.59. The total trading turnover of the benchmark index was SR7.60 billion ($2.03 billion), with 82 stocks advancing and 135 declining. However, Saudi Arabia’s parallel market Nomu shed 36.16 points to close at 26,144.87. The MSCI Tadawul Index gained 12.51 points to 1,589. The best-performing stock of the day was Saudi Basic Industries Corp. The company’s share price surged by 5.46 points to SR83. Other top performers were Saudi Chemical Co. and Middle East Pharmaceutical Co., whose share prices soared by 5.42 percent and 4.90 percent respectively. The worst performer on the main index was Fawaz Abdulaziz Alhokair Co., also known as Cenomi Retail. The firm’s share price dipped by 9.99 percent to close at SR13.34. On the other hand, the best performer on the parallel market was Lana Medical Co., as its share price edged up by 4.42 percent to SR40.20. On the announcements front, Tadawul revealed that the main index closed at 12,401.56 points by the end of the first quarter of the year, representing a rise of 17.11 percent over the same period in 2023. According to a statement, total equity market capitalization at the end of the first quarter reached SR10.93 trillion, an increase of 9.56 percent compared to the same period of the previous year. The Saudi Exchange added that the total value of shares traded during the first quarter hit SR575.89 billion, marking a rise of 113.52 percent compared to the initial three months in 2023. The total number of transactions executed during the first quarter reached 35.02 million compared to 20.12 million trades during the same period in 2023. Meanwhile, marking a 6.12 percent rise in total gains, Nomu was ranked second in the Gulf region, just behind the Kuwait bourse, Al Ekhbariya reported.