RIYADH: The Kingdom’s stock exchange saw gains on Tuesday with most of the stocks ending in green territory after recouping two-day losses, thus reviving investor optimism despite omicron worries.
Both Saudi indexes – TASI and Nomu – ended the session higher, up 1.4 percent and 1.8 percent to 11,315 and 26,705 points, respectively.
The latest gain put TASI on the road to recording its biggest annual leap in over 10 years, having secured a 30-percent increase year-to-date.
This came in line with rising oil prices where Brent crude oil sustained 1.21 percent of gains to reach $79.6 per barrel, while US WTI crude surged 1.42 percent to $76.6 per barrel as of 3:33 p.m. Saudi time
Al Rajhi Bank hit its highest closing price in over a month, reaching SR143 ($38). The bank had over SR404 million worth of shares changing hands intraday.
Among the top gainers, Astra Industrial added 5 percent to close at SR41.5, followed by Al-Moammar Information Systems, Zoujaj, and Amiantit which rose nearly 4 percent each.
The hike in Al-Moammar was driven by its initial agreement with Al Rajhi Capital to launch an investment fund worth SR1 billion, whereas Amiantit soared after its board resolved to use fair value revaluation for its real estate and property assets, which is to result in a surplus of SR390 million effective April 1, 2022.
Bawan Co. went up by more than 3 percent to close at SR3.5. This came as the company announced the distribution of dividends amounting to SR45 million for the second half of 2021.
Despite its dividend announcement earlier today, Saudi Automotive Services Co., known as SASCO, was down 0.63 percent to SR31.3, offsetting early morning gains.
