Country Profile: Saudi Arabia

Saudi Tadawul index hits a month high

Profit taking and stuttering oil prices triggered the Saudi Tadawul bourse to weaken by one percent. Oil prices lost 58 US-Cent as of the close of trading in Riaydh on Tuesday, as the price declined below the level of $76 per barrel. The lead index Tasi closed at 6,068.65 points. Shares of market bellwether Sabic, the world's largest petrochemical firm, eased 3.42% to SR84.75. A number of Insurance firms bucked the fickle trend in Riyadh, such as The Company for Cooperative Insurance, also known as Tawuniya, which surged 4.65% to SR89.75. Tawuniya operates 100% on the basis of Islamic Law or Shari'ah and the firm has the only Standard and Poor's 'A'-rating among rated Takaful operators in the region.

Saudi Arabia's Tadawul bourse opened weaker but gained momentum and closed 0.23% higher at 6,131.3 points. Petrochemical market leader Sabic ended flat at SR87.75. Sabic reported a Q2 net income of SR5.02bn (up 178% year-on-year but down 7.6% quarter-on-quarter). Credit Suisse issued an analysis on Sabic today, saying that "Sabic remains a pure play on the global economy. While Credit Suisse view remains positive on recovery, one cannot ignore the signs of lower pace of recovery which increase the uncertainty of demand outlook. We thus maintain our preference within the sector for value (Sabic) over growth stocks (Yansab, Kayan, etc). (...) We maintain our outperform rating and 12-month target price of SR120 per share."

Riyadh saw its Tadawul exchanged weakening by 0.27% as the main index closed at 6,117.21 points. Shares of Saudi Arabia Refineries Company ended up 2.78% at SR37.00, slightly recovering from ist free fall in May when shares lost 27% within a few weeks. As in the UAE, building and construction shares performed weaker. Quassim Cement extended its losses from Saturday and dipped 4.29% to SR67.00, as the firm reported a second-quarter profit decline to SR135.8m from SR148.2m a year earlier due to "lower prices and falling demand".

Saudi Tadawul continues to decline

After oil prices failed to break through the resistance at $77 per barrel, Riyadh's Tadawul market ended slightly lower on Saturday at 6,133.96 points. Gulf Union Cooperative Insurance Co. posted the largest advance by closing 5.17% higher at SR21.35. Market bellwether Sabic eased 0.28%, finishing at SR87.75.