RIYADH: Saudi stocks gained some ground in early trading on Monday on expectations of a less aggressive US Federal Reserve hike in interest rates.
The main index, TASI, gained 0.13 percent to reach 11,307, while the parallel market, Nomu, started flat at 20,605, as of 10:06 a.m. Saudi time
This was led by a 5.10 percent leap in the Saudi Chemanol, after it reported its first-half profit surged 116 percent.
Following this, Saudi retailer eXtra gained 2.64 percent as it reported strong results for the first half, with a 24 percent profit growth.
Saudi oil giant Aramco gained 0.27 percent and Saudi National Bank, one of the Kingdom’s biggest lenders, rose 1.19 percent.
The biggest faller on the list was Astra Industrial Group, which saw its share price fall by 3.40 percent.
The Kingdom’s largest valued bank Al Rajhi Al saw its share price rise by 0.62 percent in early trading.
In energy trading, Brent crude settled at $103.61 a barrel and US West Texas Intermediate reached $99.75 a barrel, as of 10:25 a.m. Saudi time.
