7 things you need to know before Tadawul opens

Here’s what you need to know before the opening bell rings at the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) on Monday.

1) Oil remained under pressure as trading opened on Monday following the Brexit vote. Benchmark Brent crude last traded down 0.1 percent at $48.35/bbl and WTI crude slipped 0.4 percent to $47.46/bbl.

2) Asian stocks were mostly higher as markets neared closing hours. Japan’s Nikkei index gained 2.4 percent and China’s CSI300 index edged up 1 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index shed 0.4 percent.

3) Saudi Arabia has reportedly selected Citigroup, HSBC and JP Morgan to arrange its upcoming sovereign bond issue. Banks had earlier pitched for roles on the issue, which financiers expect to be valued at around $10 billion.

4) Abdullah A. M. Al Khodari Sons Co. received ministry of municipal and rural affairs approval to assign the construction of Taif municipality building project to Moenes Mohamad Al Shayeb Civil Works Co. (MOBCO). The financial impact of this assignment is estimated at SAR 19.4 million.

5) Arab National Bank’s (ANB) board of directors has recommended a 4.5 percent cash dividend for H1-2016, issued at SAR 0.45 per share. 

6) ACE Arabia Cooperative Insurance Co.’s board has proposed changing the company’s legal and trading name to Chubb Arabia Cooperative Insurance Company (Chubb Arabia) after obtaining a no objection confirmation from SAMA.

7) Saudi Arabia’s stock market capitalization edged down 0.09 percent to SAR 1.51 trillion in the week that ended June 23, compared to the previous week. The total value of shares traded dropped over 17 percent to SAR 15.44 billion over the same period.