Strong performance by the Saudi stock market at the end of the week
The Saudi Stock Exchange's main index (TASI) ended Thursday's trading session, the last of the week, with a notable positive performance, closing up 1.7% and gaining approximately 186 points to settle at 11,133 points. This rise was supported by strong liquidity totaling around SAR 6.8 billion, reflecting buying momentum and increasing investor confidence in the market.
According to official data from the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul), the volume of shares traded during the session reached approximately 268.8 million shares, distributed across more than 500,000 transactions. The total market capitalization of listed shares reached nearly 9.2 trillion riyals, solidifying the Saudi market's position as the largest financial market in the Middle East and North Africa region.
Regarding company performance, closing data showed a predominantly positive trend, with 205 companies seeing their share prices rise, while only 53 companies experienced declines out of a total of 268 companies listed on the main market. Among the top gainers were prominent companies such as Saudi German Healthcare, Bupa Arabia, Derayah, Al-Khorayef, and Tadawul Group. Conversely, shares of companies like Industries, Al-Drees, Chubb, Amac, and Aseeg recorded varying degrees of decline.
The economic context and the importance of the 'Tadawul' market
This positive performance comes amidst the major economic transformations underway in Saudi Arabia as part of Vision 2030. The Vision aims to diversify the Kingdom's revenue streams away from oil, strengthen the private sector, and attract foreign direct investment. The Saudi stock market plays a pivotal role in achieving these objectives, serving as a key platform for corporate financing and providing diverse investment channels for citizens, residents, and international investors.
The Saudi market has witnessed significant structural and regulatory developments in recent years, most notably its inclusion in global emerging market indices such as MSCI and FTSE Russell. This has opened the door to substantial foreign investment inflows and enhanced market depth and transparency. Furthermore, the listing of the oil giant Saudi Aramco in 2019 was a landmark event, placing the market among the world's largest stock exchanges in terms of market capitalization.
Expected impacts and performance of the parallel market 'Growth'
The continued positive performance of the Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) not only boosts the confidence of local investors but also sends a strong signal to regional and international investors about the strength and resilience of the Saudi economy and its ability to withstand global challenges. This performance also contributes to increasing the market's attractiveness for new initial public offerings (IPOs), supporting company growth and providing investors with more options.
In a related development, the parallel market index (Nomu), dedicated to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), also closed higher, rising 0.6% to reach 23,513 points. Trading volume on Nomu reached approximately SAR 42.7 million, underscoring the vital role this market plays in supporting the SME sector, a cornerstone of the Kingdom's economic transformation program.
