Saudi Stocks Resume Trade Activity, Jump 137 Pts

Saudi Stocks Resume Trade Activity, Jump 137 Pts
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Saudi Stocks Resume Trade Activity, Jump 137 Pts

Saudi Stocks Resume Trade Activity, Jump 137 Pts

Saudi stock market gains jumped on Tuesday with trade activity resuming after a two-day holiday celebrating the Kingdom’s 88th National Day.

Jumping 137 points, the Saudi index closed at 7,905 points on Tuesday, well above its 200-day average. Analysts read into the jump as a positive technical signal for the index.

The number of shares traded exceeded 121 million shares in over 99 thousand transactions.

In a related context, the Saudi Arabian Capital Market Authority (CMA) approved the initial public listing of 30 percent, or 6 million shares, of Gulf Steel Works Company.

"The prospectus will contain the information and data that the investor needs to know before making the investment decision or not, especially with respect to share prices and financial statements of companies," the market regulator said in a statement.

The prospectus will include all relevant information including the share price, the company's financial statements, activities and management. The document will be published within sufficient time prior to the start of the subscription period.

According to the CMA, the approval will be valid for six months from the board resolution date and will be canceled if the offering and listing of the company's shares are not completed within this period.

However, the CMA approval of the request should not be considered as an endorsement of the feasibility of the investment in the offering or in the shares of the company concerned.

The decision to approve the request means that the regulatory requirements have been complied with in accordance with the Capital Market Law and its Implementing Regulations, the CMA’s statement added.

These developments come after the Saudi Council of Economic and Development Affairs (CEDA) approving the Financial Sector Development Program 2020, which is one of the main programs to achieve goals of the Saudi Vision 2030.

The program’s objectives include creating a diversified and effective financial services sector to support the development of the national economy, diversify its sources of income, and stimulate savings, finance, and investment by addressing the sector’s challenges.



Trump Taps Scott Bessent for Treasury

(FILES) Scott Bessent, head of Key Square Group and former chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, attends the second day of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 12, 2017 in Sun Valley, Idaho.(Photo by Drew ANGERER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
(FILES) Scott Bessent, head of Key Square Group and former chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, attends the second day of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 12, 2017 in Sun Valley, Idaho.(Photo by Drew ANGERER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
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Trump Taps Scott Bessent for Treasury

(FILES) Scott Bessent, head of Key Square Group and former chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, attends the second day of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 12, 2017 in Sun Valley, Idaho.(Photo by Drew ANGERER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
(FILES) Scott Bessent, head of Key Square Group and former chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, attends the second day of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 12, 2017 in Sun Valley, Idaho.(Photo by Drew ANGERER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)

President-elect Donald Trump on Friday said he will nominate prominent investor Scott Bessent as US Treasury secretary, a key cabinet position with vast influence over economic, regulatory and international affairs.

"I am most pleased to nominate Scott Bessent to serve as the 79th Secretary of the Treasury of the United States," Trump said in a statement released on Truth Social. "Scott is widely respected as one of the world's foremost international investors and geopolitical and economic strategists."

Wall Street has been closely watching who Trump will pick, especially given his plans to remake global trade through tariffs and extend and potentially expand the raft of tax cuts enacted during his first term, Reuters reported
The choice came after days of deliberations by Trump as he sorted through a shifting list of candidates. Bessent spent day after day at Trump's Mar-a-Lago home in Florida providing economic advice, sources said, a proximity to the president-elect that may have helped him prevail.
Other names that had been floated included Apollo Global Management Chief Executive Marc Rowan and former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh. Investor John Paulson had also been a leading candidate, but dropped out, while Wall Street veteran Howard Lutnick, another contender, was appointed as head of the Commerce Department.
Bessent, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment, has advocated for tax reform and deregulation, particularly to spur more bank lending and energy production, as noted in a recent opinion piece he wrote for The Wall Street Journal.
The market's surge after Trump's election victory, he wrote, signaled investor expectations of "higher growth, lower volatility and inflation, and a revitalized economy for all Americans."
"Bessent has been on the side of less aggressive tariffs," said Oxford Economics' Ryan Sweet, adding that picking him makes the steep tariffs Trump proposed on the campaign trail less likely.
Bessent follows other financial luminaries who have taken the job, including former Goldman Sachs executives Robert Rubin, Hank Paulson and Steven Mnuchin, Trump's first Treasury chief. Janet Yellen, the current secretary and first woman in the job, previously chaired the Federal Reserve and White House Council of Economic Advisers.
Republican US Senator Lindsey Graham from South Carolina, Bessent's home state, said in a statement: "President Trump's economic agenda is in good hands with Scott Bessent. I look forward to working closely with Scott and President Trump to lower inflation and create the golden age of prosperity for the American people."