RIYADH: Despite a sharp fall in oil prices, Saudi stocks opened higher on Tuesday, as Fitch’s revised ratings of major listed companies and earnings continue to kick in.
TASI the main index added 0.6 percent to 13,624, and the parallel market Nomu was up 0.8 percent to 23,499 as of 10:13 a.m. Saudi time.
The heaviest weights on TASI, oil giant Aramco and chemical firm SABIC both advanced after Fitch Ratings revised their long-term foreign-currency issuer default ratings to positive from stable.
Shares of Bank AlJazira gained as high as 3.7 percent, following a 17-percent rise in first-quarter profits.
Also in the banking sector, the Kingdom’s highest-valued bank Al Rajhi inched 0.9 percent higher and its largest lender the Saudi National Bank gained 1.8 percent.
Amana Cooperative Insurance Co. led the gainers after receiving approval from the Saudi central bank for a capital increase from SR130 million to SR430 million.
The Capital Market Authority announced the approval of the capital increase requests for Saudi Arabian Mining Co., known as Ma’aden, as well as Petro Rabigh on April 25.
Ma’aden’s shares soared almost 5 percent in response to the announcement, while Petro Rabigh’s stock price shed 1.3 percent.
In energy trading, concerns over rising interest rates and global economic growth weighed on oil prices.
Brent crude is now trading at $102.85, and US West Texas Intermediate reached $98.82 as of 10:17 a.m. Saudi time.
