10 things to watch on Tadawul today

Here are a few things you need to know as Saudi stocks start trading on Thursday.

1) Saudi Arabia remains a "very attractive" emerging market compared to its peers, Henry Fernandez, chairman and CEO, MSCI Inc., told Argaam. He also called Saudi Aramco’s decision to acquire the 70 percent stake owned by Public Investment Fund in Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) for an estimated $70 billion as a “smart move.”

2) The Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) will soon announce the companies that will be included into the burgeoning futures contracts market, said Khalid Al Hussan, chief executive officer, Tadawul.

3) Kingdom Holding Co. completed the sale of Mövenpick Hotels and Resorts to AccorHotels for SAR 749 million, generating around SAR 175 million in profit from the sale.

4) Al Sagr Cooperative Insurance’s board of directors cancelled the MoU with Walaa Insurance Cooperative Company regarding a potential merger, as it was deemed unfeasible.

5) Saudi Aramco plans to ship the first crude oil cargo to its joint-refinery project with Malaysia’s Petronas in October, Reuters reported.

6) Saudi Arabia is benefiting from many strong reforms that have been adopted in the last three years as well as the improvement in oil prices, said Dr Fahad Al Shathri, deputy governor – supervision, Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA).

7) Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan said that converting the State Property Department into a public authority will help boost its performance.

8) Foreign re-insurance firms are expected to open branches in the Saudi market soon after the due laws are approved, Adel Al-Issa, an official spokesperson for insurance companies, told Al-Yaum newspaper.

9) Saudi Arabia's foreign reserves are expected to rise by 3 to 4 percent to $512 billion to $518 billion by the end of 2018 compared to $496.4 billion last year, said MUFG Bank.

10) Oil prices fell on Thursday morning as emerging market uncertainties weighed on sentiment. Brent crude was down 0.1 percent at $77.20/bbl, while WTI crude slipped 0.13 percent to $68.63/bbl.