Oil price concerns and geopolitical tensions in the Americas, following the US military’s arrest of Venezuela’s president and his wife and US President Donald Trump’s announcement that America would run the country and sell oil, dominated trading on the Saudi market today.
Venezuela produces 800,000 barrels of oil per day, less than 1% of the world's daily production, which is not a significant percentage. However, the South American country has the largest proven oil reserves in the world, and Donald Trump announced that American oil companies would invest billions in Venezuela after Maduro's removal.
The Saudi Stock Exchange (TASI) opened trading today with a drop of more than a full point and is currently down 1.5% as of 12:11 PM Riyadh time. This negative session precedes the opening of markets tomorrow, Monday, which is expected to see sharp declines in oil futures prices and increases in safe-haven assets.
The Saudi index's decline stemmed primarily from a sharp drop in Aramco shares, which fell by over 1.8% on a trading volume of 4.76 million shares. Americana shares were also among the decliners, falling by 1.7%, while Derayah, Al-Taamir, and Sumou shares declined by 3.4%, 3.2%, and 2.79%, respectively.
Shares of Al-Sadarat rose by 5.5%, Burgerize by 4.1%, and Shari by 1.6%. The increase in shares of Beit Al-Shateera 6016 (Burgerize) restaurants resulted from the Extraordinary General Assembly's approval, at its meeting on January 1st, of the Board of Directors' recommendation to increase the company's capital by 60% through the issuance of bonus shares. According to the Board's recommendation, the company's capital will increase from SAR 35 million (35 million shares) to SAR 56 million (56 million shares). The company clarified that the capital increase will be achieved by capitalizing retained earnings, totaling SAR 21 million, to support its growth, business expansion, and strengthen its financial position.
