RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index gained 45.60 points or 0.41 percent to close at 11,118.77, driven by oil prices that rebounded after plunging consecutively for three days.
While the parallel market Nomu rose 224.72 points to 20,895.57, the MSCI Tadawul Index also inched up slightly by 0.34 percent to 1,497.92.
The total trading turnover of the benchmark index was SR4.67 billion ($1.25 billion).
On Thursday, Brent futures rose by 30 cents to $73.63 a barrel at 3:40 p.m. Saudi time, while West Texas Intermediate crude also climbed 8 cents to $68.68.
National Medical Care Co. was the top performer of the day, as its share price went up by 5.7 percent to SR98.30.
Other top performers were Salama Cooperative Insurance Co. and Fawaz Abdulaziz Alhokair Co., whose share prices climbed by 5.19 percent and 4.13 percent, respectively.
The worst performer of the day was Retal Urban Development Co., whose share price dropped by 4.61 percent to SR12.
On the announcements front, energy giant Saudi Arabian Oil Co.’s base oil subsidiary Luberef revealed that its net profit rose 47 percent to SR445.7 million in the first quarter of 2023 from SR302.6 million in the same period a year ago.
However, Americana Restaurants International announced that its net profit went down 19 percent to SR218 million in the first quarter of 2023 from SR270 million in the same period of 2022.
In a statement to Tadawul, Americana Restaurants said that the fall in profit was due to higher commodity prices and lower sales volumes in March due to Ramadan.
Power and Water Utility Co. for Jubail and Yanbu also reported a 25.34 percent drop in net profit in the first quarter of this year to SR106.7 million, from SR143 million in the same quarter of 2022.
Meanwhile, Jamjoom Pharmaceuticals Co. announced its plans to opt for an initial public offering on the Saudi exchange’s primary market.
The company said in a statement that it is planning to offer 21 million of its existing shares, equivalent to 30 percent of its issued share capital.
