Saudi Stock Market Surges to Two-Year High with Strong Demand for Aramco Offerings

On Sunday, the Saudi market index recorded its highest level in nearly two years with a 2.6% increase, with gains across various sectors. The index ended the session with an increase of 11,855 points and a total value of trades amounting to about 54 billion riyals.

Shares of Al Rajhi Bank, the world’s largest Islamic bank, rose 3.7%, while Saudi Aramco shares also increased by 1.8%. Other notable winners included Miyahuna Holding shares, which jumped 19.8%, and shares of the Water and Sanitation Infrastructure Company, which began trading after an IPO at a price of 11.5 riyals per share.

Special deals on Saudi Aramco were also part of Sunday’s trading, with about 1.55 billion shares worth 42.1 billion riyals mostly from participating institutions in the secondary public offering. Sources revealed that Saudi Arabia allocated more than half of the shares in the secondary offering to foreign investors, with high demand from countries like the United States, Britain, Hong Kong, and Japan. The total demand for the secondary offering of Aramco exceeded $65 billion, indicating strong interest from both local and international investors.

Meanwhile outside the Gulf region Egypt’s leading stock index declined for the third session in a row with most sectors experiencing a decline Commercial International Bank shares fell 2.8%, indicating a challenging market environment in the region