Closing Bell: Saudi main index slips to close at 12,069

The total trading turnover for the benchmark index amounted to SR4.21 billion ($1.12 billion), with 119 stocks advancing and 106 retreating. Shutterstock
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Updated 05 January 2025
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Closing Bell: Saudi main index slips to close at 12,069

 

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index fell on Sunday, shedding 32.73 points, or 0.27 percent, to close at 12,069.82.

The total trading turnover for the benchmark index amounted to SR4.21 billion ($1.12 billion), with 119 stocks advancing and 106 retreating.

The Kingdom’s parallel market Nomu registered a gain of 48.69 points, or 0.16 percent, closing at 31,054.38. Out of the stocks listed on Nomu, 38 advanced while 41 declined. The MSCI Tadawul Index also declined, dropping 7.32 points, or 0.48 percent, to close at 1,509.84.

Among the top performers of the day was Saudi Reinsurance Co., whose stock surged 9.94 percent to SR59.70. 

Salama Cooperative Insurance Co. also posted a strong performance, with its share price rising 8.44 percent to SR21.06, while Riyadh Cables Group Co. saw its stock climb 6.34 percent to SR151.00. 

However, National Medical Care Co. recorded the day’s steepest decline, falling 3.49 percent to SR160.40. Emaar The Economic City and the Power and Water Utility Co. for Jubail and Yanbu also experienced losses, with their share prices dropping 3.06 percent to SR18.38 and 2.93 percent to SR53.00, respectively.

In corporate news, Al-Yamamah Steel Industries Co. announced the signing of a SR97.5 million contract with the Saudi-based Trading & Development Partnership. The agreement involves the supply of steel towers for constructing a 380-kilovolt ultra-high voltage transmission line in the Eastern Region. 

The contract, which will commence in May 2025, is expected to reflect on the company’s financial results starting from the third quarter of 2025. 

Shares of Al-Yamamah Steel ended the session 6.25 percent higher at SR36.40.

The Saudi Industrial Development Co. disclosed that its subsidiary, Global Co. for Marketing Sleeping Systems, also known as Sleep High, has secured a Shariah-compliant SR9 million credit facility from Riyadh Bank. 

The financing, guaranteed under the Kafalah Program, will be utilized to support the subsidiary’s working capital needs. SIDC shares closed 0.67 percent higher at SR30.00.

Saudi Arabian Amiantit Co. signed a memorandum of understanding with the Libyan Development & Reconstruction Fund to collaborate on water technology transfer, sewage treatment, and pipe production. 

The one-year agreement aims to localize industries in Libya, create employment opportunities, and transfer manufacturing expertise. It also includes plans to establish joint factories specializing in fiberglass and polyethylene pipes, as well as valves, to support Libyan national projects. 

Shares of Amiantit rose 1.90 percent to close at SR29.40.

United International Holding Co. announced the extension of its memorandum of understanding with Nowpay Corp. for an additional two months. The partnership aims to establish a payroll administration and processing firm in Saudi Arabia. 

The venture, which will require an initial investment of SR75 million, will be 75 percent owned by United International Holding and 25 percent by Nowpay Corp. 

The company’s stock closed 0.75 percent higher at SR187.40.

National Gypsum Co. revealed that it has signed an Islamic financing agreement with Riyadh Bank valued at SR35 million. The funds will be directed toward expanding operations and upgrading production lines. The financing will last for one and a half years and is backed by promissory notes and a property mortgage. 

The company’s share price remained unchanged at SR22.16.


Saudi minister at Davos urges collaboration on minerals

Global collaboration on minerals essential to ease geopolitical tensions and secure supply, WEF hears. (Supplied)
Updated 20 January 2026
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Saudi minister at Davos urges collaboration on minerals

  • The reason of the tension of geopolitics is actually the criticality of the minerals

LONDON: Countries need to collaborate on mining and resources to help avoid geopolitical tensions, Saudi Arabia’s minister of industry and mineral resources told the World Economic Forum on Tuesday.

“The reason of the tension of geopolitics is actually the criticality of the minerals, the concentration in different areas of the world,” Bandar Alkhorayef told a panel discussion on the geopolitics of materials.

“The rational thing to do is to collaborate, and that’s what we are doing,” he added. “We are creating a platform of collaboration in Saudi Arabia.”

Bandar Alkhorayef, Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources 

The Kingdom last week hosted the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh. Alkhorayef said the platform was launched by the government in 2022 as a contribution to the global community. “It’s very important to have a global movement, and that’s why we launched the Future Minerals Forum,” he said. “It is the most important platform of global mining leaders.”

The Kingdom has made mining one of the key pillars of its economy, rapidly expanding the sector under the Vision 2030 reform program with an eye on diversification. Saudi Arabia has an estimated $2.5 trillion in mineral wealth and the ramping up of extraction comes at a time of intense global competition for resources to drive technological development in areas like AI and renewables.

“We realized that unlocking the value that we have in our natural resources, of the different minerals that we have, will definitely help our economy to grow to diversify,” Alkhorayef said. The Kingdom has worked to reduce the timelines required to set up mines while also protecting local communities, he added. Obtaining mining permits in Saudi Arabia has been reduced to just 30 to 90 days compared to the many years required in other countries, Alkhorayef said.

“We learned very, very early that permitting is a bottleneck in the system,” he added. “We all know, and we have to be very, very frank about this, that mining doesn’t have a good reputation globally.

“We are trying to change this and cutting down the licensing process doesn’t only solve it. You need also to show the communities the impact of the mining on their lives.”

Saudi Arabia’s new mining investment laws have placed great emphasis on the development of society and local communities, along with protecting the environment and incorporating new technologies, Alkhorayef said. “We want to build the future mines; we don’t want to build old mines.”