RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index on Thursday edged up 12.50 points — or 0.12 percent — to close at 10,821.65.
While MSCI Tadawul 30 Index ended flat at 1,499.11, the parallel market Nomu booked a marginal decline at 19,252.34.
TASI’s total trading turnover of the benchmark index on Thursday was SR3.71 billion ($990 million), with 116 stocks of the listed 223 advancing and 83 retreating.
Building material firm Al Kathiri Holding Co. was the topmost gainer of the day, which rose 9.87 percent to SR51.20.
Investment major Saudi Advanced Industries Co. was the next best grosser as its share price surged 5.85 percent to SR27.15.
SAIC on Thursday informed the stock exchange that its shareholders approved increasing the company’s capital by 20 percent by distributing one bonus share for every five shares held to strengthen the capital base to enhance its future growth plans.
The move would boost its current capital from SR500 million to SR600 million, according to a statement to Tadawul.
The worst performer on Thursday was Almarai Co., which fell 3.11 percent to SR53. The other stocks that performed poorly included Arabian Pipes Co., Etihad Atheeb Telecommunication Co., Saudi Basic Industries Corp. and Al-Rajhi Co. for Cooperative Insurance.
Among sectoral indices, 12 of the 21 listed on the stock exchange declined while the rest advanced.
The Insurance Index was the best-performing index thanks to Saudi Reinsurance Co., which jumped 5.05 percent to SR15.40. On the other hand, Allianz Saudi Fransi Cooperative Insurance Co. moved up 4.01 percent to SR14. The other gainers were Saudi Enaya Cooperative Insurance Co., Aljazira Takaful Taawuni Co. and Al Alamiya for Cooperative Insurance Co.
The Food and Beverages Index was the worst-performing sector as it rose 2.19 percent to 4,771.99, with five of the nine constituents falling. Even the gainers registered only a slight increase between 0.16 and 0.94 percent.
On the announcements front, United Wire Factories Co., also known as Aslak, reported a 24 percent increase to an estimated net profit after Zakat and tax of SR7.3 million for 2022 from SR46.2 million a year earlier, mainly due to higher sales volume and profit margins.
The company’s revenues increased 11.4 percent to SR1,026.40 million between January and December last year from SR921.33 million in the year-ago period.
The release stated that the fourth-quarter net profit also soared 52 percent year on year to SR12 million. Aslak’s share price closed 1.22 percent higher to SR24.96.
Meanwhile, the Saudi exchange also announced the listing and trading units of Alinma Hospitality REIT Fund on the primary market beginning Monday, Jan. 30, with the symbol 4349.
The units will be allowed to fluctuate with an upper and lower limit of 30 percent a day and an upper and lower limit of 10 percent for static price fluctuation.
