TASI slips as prince warns of further austerity

Saudi Arabian stocks fell on Wednesday after oil prices declined overnight. The sentiment was further dampened on Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s warning in a television interview aired last night that austerity measures might need to be extended if oil prices fell.

The benchmark Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) fell 0.6 percent to 6,968 amid a trading turnover at SAR 3.4 billion.  

Most sectors closed in the negative with petrochemicals and energy leading the losses.

 Petrochemical heavyweight SABIC fell 1 percent to SAR 97.75. Other petchems like Sipchem, Kayan, Yansab and Sahara fell between 1 and 2 percent.

Advanced Petrochemical fell 2.3 percent to SAR 43.30. The company posted 13 percent drop in Q1 net profit to SAR 124 million. The effort missed NCB Capital and the consensus estimates of SAR 149 million and SAR 156 million respectively.

Elsewhere, Aslak fell nearly 6 percent to SAR 19.60 after reporting a 55 percent drop in Q1 net profit to SAR 7.7 million.

Meanwhile, Saudi Research and Marketing Group gained more than 1 percent to SAR 28.20 after its subsidiary signed a SAR 182 million digital marketing deal.

Medgulf was among the top gainers, up more than 4 percent to SAR 21.80. 

Write to Brinda Darasha at brinda.d@argaamplus.com