RIYADH: Saudi stocks opened fractionally lower as investors brace themselves for earnings announcements.
As of 10:19 a.m. Saudi time, TASI edged down 0.2 percent to 12,238 points and the parallel Nomu market was flat at 26,155 points.
Shares in Yanbu National Petrochemical Co., known as Yansab, led the losses in early trading as it fell almost 2 percent despite posting a 126 percent jump in net profit in the fiscal year 2021.
The market was also weighed down by falls in some of the Kingdom’s major players, including oil giant Saudi Aramco, Al Rajhi Bank, and its largest lender Saudi National Bank all down in the range of 0.1 to 0.3 percent.
The Gulf’s largest miner, Saudi-listed Ma’aden hit its highest value since listing of SR95.5 ($25.5).
Al Moammar Information Systems Co., MIS, saw a 1.4 percent increase in its share price.
Earlier, MIS announced the launch of a system to provide cloud management solutions in Saudi Arabia, following a deal with BMC Software.
In energy trading, Brent crude reached $88.1 per barrel, and US WTI crude oil neared $87 per barrel as of 10:30 a.m. Saudi time.
