All you need to know ahead of trading as Saudi market wraps up January

TASI ended 0.1 percent higher at 12,271 points to wrap up January with almost a 9 percent increase, and the parallel Nomu market edged up by 0.3 percent to 25,572 points.

In the Gulf, Dubai’s DFMGI, Abu Dhabi’s FTSE ADX general index, and Oman’s MSX30 dropped between 0.5 and 0.9 percent.

Bourses of Bahrain and Oman were slightly up, while the Qatari index QSI closed flat.

Egypt’s EGX30 inched up by 0.3 percent.

In energy trading, Brent crude oil front-month contract for March delivery reached $91.2 per barrel as it expired on Monday, and US benchmark WTI crude oil rose to $88.4 per barrel as of 9:11 a.m. Saudi time.

Stock news

• Savola Group, a major food retailer in Saudi Arabia, has seen a huge decline in profits in 2021, down 75.6 percent, as retail segment suffered from pandemic and taxation changes
• IT company Al Moammar Information Systems Co., or MIS, approved a distribution of SR25 million ($6.66 million) in cash dividends for the second half of 2021
• Cable manufacturer United Wire Factories Co. has seen a 25 percent drop in its 2021 profits
• MIS has also announced its board’s recommendation to increase capital to SR300 million by granting bonus shares
• Ataa Educational Co. has renewed its Shariah-compliant credit facilities at SR150 million with Banque Saudi Fransi
• National Metal Manufacturing and Casting Co., known as Maadaniyah, has reduced its accumulated losses to 8.3 percent of capital
• Al Waha Petrochemical Co., a subsidiary of Sipchem, has signed an Islamic facility agreement worth over SR1 billion with Banque Saudi Fransi
• Saudi financial institution FALCOM Financial Services will change its name to Yakeen Capital as announced by the Capital Market Authority