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 Wednesday.

1) Oil prices edged up on Wednesday amid reports of potential supply outages and decline in stockpiles. Brent crude last traded up 0.4 percent at $48.75/bbl and WTI crude rose 0.4 percent to $48.06/bbl.

2) Asian stocks recovered from the Brexit fallout after US and European markets rallied in the previous session. China’s CSI300 index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.6 percent. Japan’s Nikkei climbed by nearly 2 percent as markets neared closing hours.

3) Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) has reached an agreement with Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (Saudi Aramco) for a joint study to develop a fully integrated complex that would produce petrochemicals directly from crude oil.

4) Abdullah A. M. Al-Khodari Sons Co.’s general assembly approved a capital raise of 5 percent to SAR 577.8 million from SAR 531.3 million through issuing one bonus share for every 20 shares. Shareholders also voted to withhold a cash dividend for the 2015 fiscal year.

5) Red Sea Housing Services Co. said it will halt the housing project at King Abdullah Economic City that was intended to benefit investment companies’ employees due to economic circumstances. The company also decided to stop building its pre-assembled housing units plant in the city.

6) Banque Saudi Fransi has established Bank Saudi Fransi Markets LTD Co. with a total capital of SAR 50,000.

7) The cumulative profit of banks in Saudi Arabia rose 3 percent year-on-year to SAR 3.95 billion in February, according to the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), the kingdom’s central bank.