The petrochemical and banking stocks sent Saudi stocks to higher close yesterday and Q2 results of the listed companies started pouring in.
The Tadawul All-Share Index (TASI) surged 0.56 percent to 6,665.65 points and the petrochemical stocks added 0.69 percent to 5,725.50 points. The banking sector index gained 0.38 percent.
“The Q2 results clearly offer something of a mixed bag overall,” Jarmo T. Kotilaine, chief economist at the National Commercial Bank (NCB), said yesterday.
“But what they seem to highlight fairly consistently is the strength and resilience of companies with a primarily domestic sphere of operations. Cases in point include food, retail and telecoms,” Kotilaine said.
“These companies are reaping the benefits of faster growth and higher disposable incomes in an environment of continued macroeconomic stability,” he added.
He said: “It is this benign story that will clearly continue to clash periodically with the much more uncertain external picture, as well as the continued oil price volatility this will translate into.”
The bellwether Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) stock edged higher by 1.15 percent to close at SR87.75.
Shares in Savola Group soared 4.5 percent after beating analyst forecasts in their Q2 net profits.
Saudi Telecom Co. (STC) shares advanced 5.82 percent to SR 38.20 after profit beat analysts' estimates.
Basil Al-Ghalayini, CEO of BMG Financial Group, commented: “The Ramadan factor has made a positive impact on the service and retail sectors of the stock market. Both STC and Savola, which are market leaders in these two sectors, have driven the index up with their share price gains. Also, as for STC, its international operations have been doing well which further enhanced its reported results.”
The value of Saudi traded shares exceeded SR 4 billion yesterday.
Zain KSA shares fell 1.22 percent yesterday as its over SR 6 billion rights issue was oversubscribed by 105.4 percent.
Petchem and banking stocks boost Tadawul
