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Reuters
Saudi Arabia’s stock market posted a small gain on Wednesday on the back of firm oil prices, seemingly little impressed by heavy investment plans showcased at a major conference in Riyadh.
The Saudi index gained 0.3 percent, supported by Saudi Electricity Co (SEC), whose shares rose 4.4 percent after the utility said the Saudi government is considering selling a large stake in the company to SoftBank Vision Fund, the world’s largest private equity fund, while maintaining a controlling stake.
SEC, which is 74 percent owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, has assets estimated at around $100 billion.
SEC’s gains were largely offset by a 9.9 percent loss in Zain Saudi Arabia, caused by a proposed capital reduction to 3.6 billion riyals ($965 million) from 5.8 billion to write off accumulated losses of 2.2 billion riyals.
After the reduction, Zain is planning to increase capital to 9.62 billion riyals through a 6 billion riyals rights issue. Zain swung to a profit of 3 million riyals in the third quarter, from a 266 million loss a year earlier. The Saudi petrochemical sector was higher on the back of firmer oil prices, with Brent crude, the global benchmark, at $58.13 a barrel by 1245 GMT.
Oil prices eased but were still close to a four-week high after Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, said it was determined to reduce oil inventories through an OPEC-led deal aimed at cutting output, and it raised the prospect of prolonging output restraint once the OPEC pact ends. Most Saudi banks were up, with Alinma Bank seeing the market’s largest volume of trading after last week posting third-quarter net profit of 542 million riyals.
Outside Saudi Arabia, the Dubai index rose 0.7 percent, lifted by Dubai Investments, a conglomerate partly owned by the sovereign wealth fund Investment Corp of Dubai, which rose 4.42 percent.
The Abu Dhabi index edged up 0.1 percent, with Dana Gas posting the highest trading volume and rising 4.11 percent.
Dana Gas, which has assets in Kurdistan, may have been boosted by the Kurdistan Regional Government’s offer to freeze the results of an earlier referendum on independence.