RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s stock indexes opened mixed on Thursday amid a wave of earnings announcements, guiding investors’ decision-making.
The main TASI index was flat at 12,192 points as of 10:22 a.m. Saudi time, while the parallel market Nomu slipped 0.7 percent to 25,512 points.
TASI was pushed higher by gains in Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Co. but weighed down by National Petrochemical Co., known as Petrochem, and the Saudi Industrial Investment Group, even as all three firms reported an earnings beat.
Saudi Kayan saw its share price soar over 2 percent after it turned from losses into profits of SR2.39 billion ($640 million) in 2021.
Shares in Petrochem and the Saudi Industrial Investment Group were down 1 and 1.8 percent, respectively, despite seeing an unprecedented rise in last year’s earnings.
Saudi Automotive Services Co., known as SASCO, soared 4 percent, topping the gainers for a second consecutive day.
SASCO had earlier acquired 80 percent of gas station operator NAFT Services Limited Co. for SR1.1 billion.
Arabian Shield Cooperative Insurance Co. was up 1 percent, after signing a SR215 million contract to provide insurance to employees of the Kingdom’s largest lender Saudi National Bank, known as SNB.
Allied Cooperative Insurance Group led the fallers in early trading, with its shares declining almost 6 percent.
In energy trading, Brent crude oil reached $89.6 per barrel, and US benchmark WTI crude oil neared $87 per barrel as of 10:39 a.m. Saudi time.
