Saudi bourse edges down, pandemic fears persist: Opening bell

Saudi bourse edges down, pandemic fears persist: Opening bell

RIYADH: The Saudi stock exchange opened lower on Thursday amid worries over a surge in COVID-19 cases in the Kingdom, despite resilience in the oil market. The Saudi Health Ministry confirmed 3,045 new cases in the Kingdom on Wednesday, up from only 34 on Dec. 1. As of 10:23 a.m. Saudi time, both the main and parallel indexes – TASI and Nomu – edged down by 0.5 percent to reach 11,397 and 25,226 points, respectively. Early morning losses were pushed by declines in some of the Kingdom’s biggest players, with the oil giant down 0.4 percent, reaching SR35.6 ($9.5). Saudi’s largest bank by market cap, went down by 0.3 percent to SR142, and the edged down 0.73 percent. ., and or SABB, were among the highest decliners, down 1.2, 3.2, and 1.2 percent, respectively. .’s stock surged 4 percent upon inking an extension contract with oilfield services company Schlumberger to support its oil drilling operations in the Eastern region. Shares in Saudi Real Estate Co., known as rose 2 percent to SR21 after it purchased a SR727 million land in Riyadh for infrastructure development. In energy trading, Brent crude settled near $80 per barrel, while US WTI crude oil reached