RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index fell 97.92 points — or 0.95 percent — to close at 10,207.17 on Tuesday as the looming US banking crisis clouded the investor sentiment globally.
The collapse of Silvergate Bank, Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in the last week has spurred an exodus of investors from equities to safe havens such as gold and bonds.
Stock markets in the Gulf Cooperation Council region also mirrored the rattled investor confidence as Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Kuwait were in red even as Muscat closed slightly higher.
Boursa Kuwait Premier Market Index plunged 231.74 points — or 2.88 percent — to 7,827.39, followed by Qatar Exchange Index, which slumped 192.39 points — or 1.85 percent — to 10,216.03.
Abu Dhabi’s FTSE ADX General Index also took a massive hit as it closed down 170.53 points — or 1.75 percent — to 9,587.31.
Closer to home, the parallel market Nomu dropped 72.77 points — or 0.38 percent — to 18,964.80, even as MSCI Tadawul 30 Index closed flat at 1,393.85.
TASI’s total trading turnover on Tuesday was SR4.42 billion ($1.18 billion) as 56 stocks of the listed 224 advanced and 157 retreated.
Banking stocks witnessed huge selling on the sectoral front as the index slipped 145.58 points to 10,322.52, led by Saudi British Bank, which declined 3.12 percent to SR32.65.
Out of the six constituents in the Banking Index, Arab National Bank stayed afloat while the rest sunk.
Thimar Development Holding Co. was the worst performer of the day as its share price nosedived 7.85 percent to SR31.70.
The company on March 14 informed Tadawul that it had filed a complaint before the Capital Market Authority against the former board of directors for two terms and claimed compensation of SR230 million besides the litigation fees.
The other poor performers were Takween Advanced Industries Co., Wafrah for Industry and Development Co., Al Sagr Cooperative Insurance Co. and Abdulmohsen Alhokair Group for Tourism and Development.
On the other hand, pipe manufacturer Saudi Arabian Amiantit Co. was the topmost performer of the day as its share price surged 9.92 percent to SR39.90.
Last week, the company informed the stock exchange that it would vote on increasing capital through an SR346.5 million rights offering during its extraordinary general meeting on May 11.
The other top gainers of the day were National Agricultural Development Co., Al Moammar Information Systems Co., Elm Co. and The Co. for Cooperative Insurance, also known as Tawuniya.
Tawuniya on Tuesday touched its 52-week high of SR105 before closing at SR102.60.
On the announcements front, Saudi Home Loans Co. reported a 7 percent decline in net profit to SR95.9 million in 2022 from SR103.2 million in 2021 due to lower finance income and higher borrowing costs. Its share price fell marginally to SR20.42.
