Stocks in Saudi Arabia and Egypt jumped on Sunday, supported by widespread gains as investors returned from the week-long Eid al-Adha holiday, while most Gulf stock exchanges closed lower.
The Saudi index rose again after recording its lowest level in 6 months in the session before the Eid holiday, closing up 2%, with most stocks achieving gains.
ACWA Power shares jumped 10%, while the shares of the National Bank of Saudi Arabia (the largest bank in the Kingdom) rose by 3.6%, and the shares of the oil giant Aramco rose 1.4%.
Among the other winners were the shares of Rasan Information Technology Company, which jumped 10.6% to reach 53.20 riyals ($14.17) on its first day of trading after its debut on the market on June 13. The company’s shares achieved gains of 43.8% compared to the initial public offering price, which amounted to 37 riyals ($9.86).
According to the Saudi News Agency, the amount of shares traded in the Saudi stock market amounted to 205 million shares, in which the shares of 79 companies recorded an increase in value, while the shares of 151 companies closed with a decline.
The Saudi parallel stock index (Nomu) closed today, up 71.63 points, to close at 26,825.62 points, with trades worth 22 million riyals ($5.86 million), and the amount of shares traded reached one million shares.
Qatar Stock Exchange
The Qatari index rose 0.2%, continuing its gains for the 14th session, which is the longest period of rise in about a year.
The shares of 23 companies rose during the session, while the shares of 24 other companies fell, and the shares of 5 companies maintained their previous closing price.
Qatar International Islamic Bank shares rose 1.1%, Industries Qatar shares rose 0.2%, and Qatar Fuel shares rose 0.9%.
The market capitalization reached 563.28 billion riyals ($124.7 billion), up from 563 billion ($154.63 billion).
The Kuwaiti index fell 0.3%, the Bahraini index fell 0.1%, and the Omani index fell 0.5%.
Egyptian Stock Exchange
Outside the Gulf region, the index of leading stocks in Egypt rose for the fifth session in a row, closing up 2.4%, in light of the gains achieved by almost all stocks listed on the index.
EFG Hermes shares jumped 6.3%, and Telecom Egypt shares jumped 7%.
