RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index on Wednesday fell 18.86 points — or 0.18 percent — to close at 10,664.04.
While MSCI Tadawul 30 Index fell 5.61 points to close at 1,479.76, the parallel market Nomu slipped 1.11 percent to close at 19,053.46.
TASI’s total trading turnover of the benchmark index on Wednesday was SR3.92 billion ($1.04 billion), with 137 stocks of the listed 223 declining and 65 advancing.
Etihad Atheeb Telecommunication Co. was the topmost gainer of the day, which rose 8.41 percent to SR72.20. The other gainers were Dur Hospitality Co., Methanol Chemicals Co., CHUBB Arabia Cooperative Insurance Co. and Al-Rajhi Company for Cooperative Insurance.
The worst performer of Wednesday was Alinma Bank, which slid 4.05 percent to SR32. The other losers were Qassim Cement Co, Saudi Tadawul Group Holding Co, Saudi National Bank and Arab National Bank.
Among sectoral indices, the Banks Index declined by 1.13 percent to 11,430.02 points. Out of eight constituent stocks, five dropped. On the other hand, Amlak International Finance Co, Riyad Bank and Bank Aljazira booked marginal gains to close at SR14.98, SR31.75 and SR18.84, respectively.
The Food & Beverages Index was the top grosser as it rose 2.01 percent and ended at 4,890.18. Five out of the eight constituent stocks gained, while the rest lost. Almarai Co. was the top performer as it surged 3.15 percent to SR55.7. Al-Jouf Agricultural Development Co. increased 1.5 percent to SR48.65. Savola Group climbed 0.88 percent to SR28.6.
The Energy Index, meanwhile, edged up 0.24 percent to 5,444.15, led by Arabian Drilling Co., which advanced 3.91 percent to SR133. Aldrees Petroleum and Transport Services Co. also progressed 2.44 percent to SR79.80.
On the announcements front, Saudi Telecom Co. informed Tadawul that it sold a vacant land plot in Al Murjan, Al Khobar, for SR1.378 billion, excluding real estate transaction tax and brokerage fees.
The telecom operator said the land spanning 4.1 million square meters was sold at SR336 per sqm through a public auction to Hasan Abdulrahman Alqahtani.
Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Co. also revealed to Tadawul its plan to shut down some of its production units, starting from March 1 to April 14, 2023, for scheduled periodic maintenance.
The petrochemical firm will close its ethylene glycol/oxide unit for 28 days, the polycarbonate unit for 40 days and the phenolic unit for 20 days. In addition, the amines and ethoxylate units will each come to a halt for 28 days.
The financial impact of this shutdown is assessed at SR147 million, according to the current average selling prices, which will be realized during the first half of 2023.
Meanwhile, Mulkia Gulf Real Estate REIT will pay a cash dividend of 1.3 percent, or SR0.13 a unit, to unitholders for the period from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2022, fund manager Mulkia Investment Co. said in a filing to the Saudi Exchange.
