RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index lost 22.16 points — or 0.20 percent — to finish at 11,258.61 on Monday, driven by falling oil prices and fears the US Federal Reserve could raise interest rates.
On Monday, Brent crude dropped $1.68, or 2.09 percent, to $78.65 a barrel at 4:10 p.m. Saudi time, while US West Texas Intermediate crude slid $1.78, or 2.32 percent, to $75.
Reuters reported that the Fed, which meets on May 2 and 3, is expected to increase interest rates by another 25 basis points.
While the parallel market Nomu also dropped 169.11 points to close at 21,162.80, the MSCI Tadawul Index slightly gained 0.13 percent to 1,521.24.
The total trading turnover of the benchmark index on Monday was SR5.80 billion ($1.55 billion).
Thimar Development Holding Co. was the top performer of the day as its share prices went up by 6.45 percent to SR41.25.
Other top performers were BinDawood Holding Co. and Al Hassan Ghazi Ibrahim Shaker Co., whose share prices advanced 4.05 percent and 3.79 percent, respectively.
United Cooperative Assurance Co. was the worst performer, as the firm’s share prices edged down 3.04 percent to SR8.60.
On the announcements front, SABIC Agri-Nutrients, revealed in a bourse filing that its net profit slumped by 61 percent to SR981 million in the first quarter of 2023 from SR2.51 billion in the same period of 2022.
The company attributed the fall in net profit to a 40 percent decline in the average selling prices of the firm’s products.
As the net profit of SABIC Agri-Nutrients declined, the company’s share prices dropped 1.20 percent to SR131.80.
Saudi National Bank also announced its financial results for the first quarter of 2023. The bank revealed that its net profit for the first quarter jumped 11.5 percent year-on-year to hit SR5.02 billion. Driven by the rise in income, the bank’s share prices edged up 0.51 percent to SR49.65.
Saudi Investment Bank was another financial institution that declared its results, and in a bourse filing, it announced a 43 percent leap in its first quarter net profit to SR408.9 million, compared to SR287 million in the same period a year ago.
Shareholders of Saudi Aramco Base Oil Co., also known as Luberef, approved the board’s recommendation to pay a cash dividend of 50 percent, or SR5 per share, for the first half of 2022.
According to a Tadawul statement, Luberef shareholders also approved authorizing the board of directors to distribute an interim dividend for 2023 on a semiannual or quarterly basis.
Meanwhile, Morabaha Marina Financing Co., also known as MRNA, announced its intention to proceed with an initial public offering of its ordinary shares on the Saudi exchange’s primary market.
According to a company statement, the Capital Market Authority approved MRNA’s application to register and offer 21.43 million shares, or 30 percent of its capital, on Dec. 26.
“With both social and macroeconomic tailwinds that support our accelerating growth, this is an exciting time to be inviting investors to share and invest in our onward journey of success,” said Abdulrahman Mohammed Al-Ghumlas, chairman of MRNA, in the statement.
