RIYADH: Saudi Arabia's Tadawul All Share Index fell on Monday, shedding 54.03 points, or 0.44 percent, to close at 12,121.40.
Total trading turnover in the benchmark index was SR6.90 billion ($1.84 billion), with 69 stocks trading higher and 150 trading lower.
The MSCI Tadawul index fell 5.19 points, or 0.34 percent, to close at 1,519.30.
The parallel market of the Nomu Kingdom rose 10.08 points, or 0.04 percent, to close at 26,513.06. This comes as 28 of the listed stocks advanced, while 31 retreated.
The day's best-performing stock was Kingdom Holding Co., which rose 9.50% to SR9.80.
Other high-performing companies included Saudi Automotive Services Co. and Tanmiah Food Co., whose share prices rose 6.14% and 3.43% to SR62.20 and SR132.80, respectively.
Other companies that posted the biggest gains included National Co. for Glass Industries and Al-Rajhi Co. for Cooperative Insurance.
The worst performing company was Bawan Co., whose share price fell 4.25% to SR47.30.
Other notable decliners included Buruj Cooperative Insurance Co. and City Cement Co., with share prices down 3.87% and 3.68%, respectively, to SR20.86 and SR18.84.
Saudi Manpower Solutions Co. and Al Sagr Cooperative Insurance Co. also saw their share prices fall.
In terms of announcements, Arabian Cement Co. reported a 7.8% decline in sales to SR402.8 million in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period last year.
In a statement on Tadawul, the company attributed the decline to lower sales volume due to reduced demand, despite an increase in the average selling price for its parent company.
However, net profit increased by 7.6% in the first six months of this year to SR83.1 million, compared to SR77.2 million in the same period last year.
The increase was mainly driven by a reduction in the group's cost of sales, an increase in the parent company's average selling price and a decrease in selling and distribution expenses.
Arabian Pipes Co.’s revenues in the same period increased by 22.3 percent to SR651.8 million. Its net profit also increased to SR111.8 million, marking a 96.3 percent increase over the same period in 2023.
The company attributed the revenue increase to higher sales volume, with net profit increasing due to gross profit rising to SR180.5 million in FY2024 from SR99.4 million in the previous 12-month period. This growth is largely the result of improved production efficiency and supply chain management, as well as ongoing efforts to reduce production costs.
