The Saudi stock market is heading in a slightly different direction than in the past few months as it closed down lower by 3% this week. The weekly falls were much lower than those of the US and Japanese markets, while Wednesday and Thursdays performance was more balanced and solid, despite sharp fluctuations in global markets. Balanced Saudi stock market performance during the last days of the week reflects the increased efficiency of institutional capital flows over the past few months, emphasizing the attractiveness of the domestic financial market as the country announced its ambitious 2030 national transformational vision. The Saudi Stock Market Index ended the week down 3.3%, or down by 253 pts, closing at 7,403 pts compared to the previous weeks close of 7,656 pts. A number of Saudi companies announced their fourth quarter 2017 financial result. They showed that the profits of companies announced during 2017 increased by 15.2% compared to profits in 2016. On the other hand, trading value declined last week, reaching a total value of about SAR 20.75 billion riyals ($5.5 billion dollars), compared to a SAR21.84 billion riyals ($5.8 billion dollars) during the previous week. Saudi stock market’s 16 sectors ended the week lower, compared to the previous week, led by “investment and finance” by 5.4%, followed by the “consumer services” sector. On the other hand, four market sectors recorded a rise, led by the food trade sector by 5%, followed by the media sector by 2%. Saudi Arabia has taken a number of important steps towards developing the financial market and increasing its opportunities to be included in global market indices. It decided to ease restrictions on foreign capital and to apply international accounting standards to corporate listings. The Saudi Capital Market Authority (CMA) is working closely with individual investors and investment funds in the local market.