RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s stock indexes closed last week lower as worries over the spike in COVID-19 cases rose and the potential lifting of US interest rates spooked investors globally.
The main index TASI edged down by 0.2 percent to close the latest session at 11,431 points, while the parallel market Nomu added 1.1 percent to reach 25,618.
Nomu’s positive performance was buoyed by its two latest listings of food delivery startup Jahez and Advance International Co., or AICTEC.
The slight decline in the TASI came in line with GCC indexes where Dubai’s DFMGI led the fall, down 0.9 percent on Thursday.
Bourses of Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Kuwait registered losses in the range of 0.1 to 0.4 percent, while Qatar’s QSI gained 0.3 percent. Oman’s MSX30 ended flat.
Dubai’s main index recovered on Friday while Abu Dhabi’s ADI fell further, shifting their trading week to align with global markets.
Last week, Crude prices rose on news that OPEC+ sticked to plans to boost output in February and unrest broke in Kazakhstan, Central Asia’s largest oil producer.
Brent crude reached $81.75 per barrel, while US WTI crude oil neared $79 per barrel as of Friday.
On Friday, the Saudi Health Ministry confirmed 3,575 new coronavirus cases, up from 3,045 the day before.
Stock news
- Saudi Tihama Advertising and Public Relations Co. and WPP plc have extended their agreement to create a Bahrain-based holding group through a merger till June. 30, 2022
- Growth Avenue Investment Co. – a fully owned subsidiary of Maharah Co. – received the green light from the General Authority for Competition to acquire an 85-percent stake of Alshifa Medical Co.
- Saudi Co. for Hardware, or SACO, opened a new showroom in Makkah, bringing its total number of stores to 35 Kingdom-wide. This is expected to enhance the company’s profitability and reflects positively on shareholders, it said in a bourse filing
- Saudi National Co. for Learning and Education, or NCLE, reported a 378 percent increase in its net profits during the quarter ending on Nov. 30, 2021, compared to the same quarter last year
- Saudi Cable Co.’s application to reduce its capital to SR262 million has been approved by the Capital Market Authority
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Jan. 13, 2022
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