Saudi stocks end week higher on IPOs and dividends wave: Closing bell 

RIYADH: The Kiingdom’s main index, TASI, reached this week’s highest value after a wave of initial public offerings and dividend announcements.

TASI rose 0.6 percent to close the week at 11,271 points, having witnessed four days of high volatility, while the parallel market, Nomu, went up by 0.52 percent to 26,545 points.

Etihad Atheeb Telecommunication Co. led the gainers, rising 6.14 percent to SR30.25 ($8.10). This followed the Capital Market Authority’s approval of the company’s capital reduction request.

AlRajhi Bank was the biggest mover of the session followed by Etihad Atheeb Telecom, with more than SR200 million worth of shares in each changing hands intraday. The share price of AlRajhi Bank rose to SR141.2.

As Banque Saudi Fransi’s board announced SR0.85 dividend per share for the second half of 2021, the stock surged 2.3 percent to SR47.

Tourism Enterprise Co., known as Shams, and the Saudi Investment Bank, SAIB, saw gains in the range of 1 to 2 percent to close at SR169 and SR19.5, respectively.

SAIB’s share price hike, which followed its board’s highest dividend recommendation since 2016, brought the stock to a 2.5-year record closing high.

SABIC Agri-nutrients Co. was the fourth-highest gainer, rising 3 percent. The company recently announced the completion of the financial implications of its pull out from Saudi Basic Industries Corp.

Seeing the highest losses by the end of the trading day, shares of Batic Investments and Logistics Co. dropped 4 percent to SR24.94.

Brent crude oil was up $0.17, or 0.23 percent, to $75.46 per barrel, while US WTI crude was up 0.18 percent to $72.89 per barrel.