RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index gained 74.64 points — or 0.73 percent — on Wednesday to close at 10,496.59.
While MSCI Tadawul 30 Index rose 0.81 percent to 1,446.26, the parallel market Nomu moved up 0.06 percent to 19,409.88.
TASI’s total trading turnover of the benchmark index was SR4.13 billion ($1.10 billion) as 112 stocks of the listed 224 advanced and 98 receded.
The Saudi Stock Exchange’s performance was in stark contrast to the global cues, with S&P 500 losing 0.03 percent to end the session at 4,136.13 after earlier rising by 0.54 percent and falling as much as 1.02 percent.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.46 percent to 34,089.27 while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.57 percent to 11,960.15.
The Australian Stock Exchange’s S&P-ASX200 closed lower, dropping 1.06 percent to 7,352.20 and setting a new 20-day low.
Likewise, London’s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index on Tuesday ended flat at 7,953.85 and 7,213.81, respectively, while the German DAX dropped 0.11 percent to 15,380.56.
Back in Saudi Arabia, Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Services Group was the best performer on Wednesday as its share price surged 5.17 percent to SR244.
Other top performers were Al-Baha Investment and Development Co., Yamama Cement Co., Saudi Aramco Base Oil Co. and City Cement Co.
The worst performer of the day on TASI was Al Gassim Investment Holding Co., which shed 6.77 percent to SR26.15.
Among sectoral indices, 15 of the 21 listed on the stock exchange advanced while the rest declined.
On the announcements front, Yamama Cement Co. informed the stock exchange that it reported a 131.5 percent increase in net profit after zakat and tax to SR355.8 million in 2022 from SR153.7 million a year earlier, following higher sales value and volume and better “other income” proceeds.
Its revenues increased 39 percent to SR1.02 billion in 2022 from SR735.84 million. Moreover, in the fourth quarter of 2022, the cement company turned a net profit of SR134.2 million against a net loss of SR18.86 million during the same period last year.
Yamama Cement Co.’s board of directors also recommended a 10 percent cash dividend, at SR1 per share, doling out SR202.5 million, for 2022. Yamama’s share price closed 3.78 percent higher to SR28.85.
Saudi Co. for Hardware’s board of directors recommended repurchasing up to 350,000 shares or 0.97 percent of the company’s total shares, as treasury shares financed from the company’s internal cash resources.
The repurchase results from the board’s viewpoint that the market price of the company’s shares is less than fair value. The company’s share price ended slightly higher at SR29.15.
Arabia Insurance Cooperative Co. won an SR62 million contract from Al Hokair Group, including Cenomi Centers, Cenomi Retail and other subsidiaries, to provide general insurance services. AICC’s share price rose marginally higher to SR11.
