Saudi Stocks Stable despite Decline in Oil Prices

Saudi Arabia's stock closed at a limited decline of 1.3 percent ahead of the Eid al-Adha holiday. (AFP)
Saudi Arabia's stock closed at a limited decline of 1.3 percent ahead of the Eid al-Adha holiday. (AFP)
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Saudi Stocks Stable despite Decline in Oil Prices

Saudi Arabia's stock closed at a limited decline of 1.3 percent ahead of the Eid al-Adha holiday. (AFP)
Saudi Arabia's stock closed at a limited decline of 1.3 percent ahead of the Eid al-Adha holiday. (AFP)

Last week's oil prices saw a drop of up to 10 percent, as Saudi Arabia's stock closed at a limited decline of 1.3 percent ahead of the Eid al-Adha holiday.

Despite sharp declines in oil prices, the Saudi stock remained strong due to several reasons, most notably the remarkable flow of cash of foreign investment in Saudi companies listed in the local market, which pushed foreign investors' ownership rates to achieve new records on a weekly basis.

So far, 162 companies listed in the Saudi stock market have announced their financial results for the first half of 2019. Compared to same period of 2018, 83 companies reported a positive improvement, while 79 announced a drop in profits and 39 reported losses.

Listed companies continue to announce their financial results for Q2 of 2019, and the rest of the companies are expected to announce their financial results after the Eid holiday. The deadline for announcing results ends on August 21.

The Saudi index dropped 1.3 percent during last week's trading to close at 8,550 points.

Market trading is expected to resume its activity on August 18 after the Eid holiday, which starts on Sunday.

As of Thursday's closing time, the Saudi stock revenues since the beginning of the year were around 9.24 percent, which is good compared to the performance of the global financial markets in the past few weeks, which witnessed a wave of declines.

The value of public and private assets of investment funds in Saudi Arabia registered a new leap during Q2 2019, amounting to $86.1 billion, compared to $82.6 billion in Q1 of the same year.

According to Saudi Capital Markets Authority (CMA), the value of public and private fund assets jumped 4.1 percent in the Q2 2019. The value of the private investment funds assets grew by 3.5 percent and the value of public fund assets grew by 5.3 percent.

The value of the assets of private investment funds amounted to $52.5 billion at the end of Q2 2019 compared with $50.6 billion in the first quarter.

Meanwhile, the value of assets of public investment funds amounted to $33.6 billion by the end of Q2 2019 compared with $31.9 billion in Q1 2019.

According to the CMA, the investment fund includes a set of securities that are selected according to specific criteria that meet the objectives of the investment funds, including the public and special funds.

Profits of the investment funds come usually from capital gains, which are the profits resulting from the improvement or change in the prices of the securities invested in addition to dividend profits, if any, for securities.



Trump Vows New Tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China

FILE PHOTO: US President-elect Donald Trump attends a viewing of the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket, in Brownsville, Texas, US, November 19, 2024. Brandon Bell/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: US President-elect Donald Trump attends a viewing of the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket, in Brownsville, Texas, US, November 19, 2024. Brandon Bell/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
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Trump Vows New Tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China

FILE PHOTO: US President-elect Donald Trump attends a viewing of the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket, in Brownsville, Texas, US, November 19, 2024. Brandon Bell/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: US President-elect Donald Trump attends a viewing of the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket, in Brownsville, Texas, US, November 19, 2024. Brandon Bell/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

US President-elect Donald Trump vowed on Monday to impose sweeping new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China as soon as he takes office as part of his effort to crack down on illegal immigration and drugs.

He said he would impose a 25% tax on all products entering the country from Canada and Mexico, and an additional 10% tariff on goods from China, as one of his first executive orders.

In a series of posts to his Truth Social account, Trump vowed to hit some of the United States' largest trading partners with duties on all goods entering the country.

“On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% tariff on ALL products coming into the United States,” he wrote, according to AFP.

He said the new tariffs would remain in place “until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!”

The President ignored the US, Mexico and Canada three-decade-old free trade agreement, now called the USMCA.

In another post, Trump said he would also be slapping China with a 10% tariff, “above any additional Tariffs,” in response to what he said was its failure to tackle fentanyl smuggling.

“No one will win a trade war,” Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for China's embassy in the United States, told AFP by email, defending Beijing's efforts to curb fentanyl smuggling.

“China believes that China-US economic and trade cooperation is mutually beneficial in nature,” Liu added.

Canada said it was “essential” to US energy supplies, and insisted the relationship benefits American workers.

“We will of course continue to discuss these issues with the incoming administration,” said the statement from Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland.

Tariffs are a key part of Trump's economic agenda, with the Republican vowing wide-ranging duties on allies and adversaries alike while he was on the campaign trail.

Many economists have warned that tariffs would hurt growth and push up inflation, since they are primarily paid by importers bringing the goods into the US, who often pass those costs on to consumers.

But those in Trump's inner circle have insisted that the tariffs are a useful bargaining chip for the US to push its trading partners to agree to more favorable terms, and to bring back manufacturing jobs from overseas.