RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s main stock market opened higher on Thursday, as investor sentiment was buoyed by strong quarterly earnings results.
TASI the main index advanced 0.5 percent to 13,717, while the parallel market Nomu slipped 0.05 percent to 23,622 at 10:12 a.m. Riyadh time.
Oil giant Aramco, which is the heaviest weight on TASI, gained 0.7 percent, and the Kingdom’s biggest lender Saudi National Bank was up 1.6 percent.
The Saudi Steel Pipe Co. topped the gainers after it swung into first-quarter profit, while Qassim Cement Co. led the fallers, down 2.2 percent.
Shares of the Saudi Arabian Mining Co., known as Ma’aden, climbed 1.8 percent after posting a 185 percent profit surge due to higher commodity prices.
Bawan Co. shares surged 2.7 percent after it disclosed improved earnings results for the first quarter of 2022, with profit rising 21 percent from a year earlier.
In energy trading, Brent crude fell to $104.66 a barrel and US benchmark West Texas Intermediate traded at $101.55 a barrel as of 10:09 a.m. Saudi time.