RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index continued its upward trend, increasing 101.54 points — 0.91 percent — to 11,265.11 as the Kingdom’s bourses re-opened after the Eid Al-Fitr holidays.
The parallel market Nomu also went up by 443.53 points, or 2.12 percent, to 21,351.97, while the MSCI Tadawul 30 Index edged up by 0.67 percent to 1,521.47.
The total trading turnover of the benchmark index was SR6.29 billion ($1.68 billion).
The top performer of the day was Tihama Advertising and Public Relations Co., whose shares went up by 7.67 percent to SR25.
Other top companies were Astra Industrial Group and Electrical Industries Co., with their shares rising by 6.89 percent and 6.41 percent respectively.
The worst performer was Al Moammar Information Systems Co., which saw its shares dip by 2.62 percent to SR118.80.
On the announcements front, Alkhaleej Training and Education Co. turned a profit of SR224,000 last year, compared to the SR33.44 million loss it incurred in 2021.
This change was attributed to a rise in revenue, which increased by SR36 million in 2022, compared to 2021.
Meanwhile, Sahara International Petrochemical Co., also known as Sipchem, announced that its net profit fell 56 percent in the first quarter of 2023 to SR470.3 million, down from SR1.07 billion in the same period in 2022.
Ahead of earnings results being published for the first quarter of 2023, Al-Rajhi Capital released a report noting that the overall outlook for Saudi Arabian equities in the period seems mixed, with sectors including petrochemical and energy expected to witness pressures due to rising costs and weak product spreads.
The financial services company noted the performance of the telecom industry is expected to be positive due to the cost optimization which is happening in the sector.
The retail sector is expected to see an improvement, driven by the drop in shipping costs which are expected to positively contribute to the margins, especially for those importing from abroad, it added.
“For the petrochemical and energy sectors, we expect most companies to continue to witness pressure on earnings sequentially, mainly due to pressure on product spreads amid a weak demand outlook,” said Al-Rajhi Capital in the report.
The food industry is also expected to report a growth in earnings on the back of repricing and healthy volumes thanks to Ramadan, but would be partially offset by higher interest rates pressuring the bottom line, Al-Rajhi further noted.
