Closing Bell: Saudi bourse falls flat to seasonal year-end slowdown, closes at 10,323 

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Stock Index on Wednesday fell flat to close at 10,276.94 points, swinging between a high of 10,323.38 at 10:10 a.m. Riyadh time and a low of 10,252.81 at 2.03 p.m. 

It also booked a decline of 8.91 percent or 1,004.77 points in its year-to-date performance. 

The lackluster show was predominant in the Gulf Cooperation Council region, where all the indices except one closed flat. Qatar Stock Exchange Index ended 33 points higher to close at 10,997.70 points. 

“TASI moved sideways after the market traded in a tight range in line with the rest of the GCC markets that witnessed marginal changes during the day,” Junaid Ansari, head of investment strategy and research at Kamco Invest, told Arab News.   

The advance-decline ratio, however, bucked the trend as 136 stocks of the listed 221 gained while 64 fell. The total trading turnover was SR3.54 billion ($940 million), down from Tuesday’s SR4.29 billion. 

“A third consecutive gain in oil prices also failed to have a significant positive impact on the regional markets,” said Ansari. 

Brent crude futures were up 93 cents at $80.92 a barrel by 1:30 p.m. Riyadh time, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 80 cents to $77.03. Both contracts had risen by more than $1 earlier in the session. 

“Trading activity also remained subdued, possibly reflecting a seasonal slowdown toward the year’s end,” added Ansari. 

The sectoral indices also gave a mixed response, showing minimal changes in indices. However, the Utilities Index registered the biggest decline of 1.3 percent, with four of the five constituent stocks witnessing declines. 

Parallel market Nomu, however, rose 100.88 points to 18,751.78. 

Meanwhile, SNB Capital, the lead manager of Saudi Aramco Base Oil Co., also known as Luberef, on Wednesday announced that its client completed the retail offering with a coverage ratio of 230.1 percent.  The number of retail subscribers reached 524,800, with a total application value of about SR2.85 billion. A minimum of 10 shares were allocated per retail subscriber. The remaining shares will be issued on a pro-rata basis, based on the size of the demand of every subscriber to total shares.

Perfect Presentation for Commercial Services Co., also known as 2P, informed TASI that it had signed a joint strategic agreement with Huawei Co. Through this partnership, the company seeks to transfer knowledge and gain strength in network and infrastructure solutions, modern data center systems, video conferencing and online meetings, and renewable energy solutions. Consequently, the company’s share price rose 3.45 percent to finish at SR179.80. 

The day’s highlight was definitely the dividend announcements from Arab National Bank and Alinma Bank. While ANB announced cash dividends of SR0.6 per share for the second half of 2022, Alinma Bank declared cash dividends of SR0.5 per share for the same period. 

Al Hassan Ghazi Ibrahim Shaker Co. ruled the roost among the gainers, closing 7.52 percent up at SR20.30. The other top gainers of the day were Al-Rajhi Co. for Cooperative Insurance and Al Gassim Investment Holding Co. 

The top losers included Tourism Enterprise Co., Alamar Foods Co., Riyadh Cables Group Co., and Almarai Co. ACWA Power Co. also lost 1.85 percent to close at SR148.60.