DUBAI: Saudi Arabian stocks ended higher on Sunday after full-year profit from state oil producer Saudi Aramco more than doubled to beat forecasts while other Gulf markets were mixed.
Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index gained 0.8% with Saudi Aramco advancing 3.4% to 43.25 riyals, valuing it at 8.64 trillion riyals ($2.3 trillion).
The oil giant made $110 billion in net profit in 2021, up from $49 billion a year earlier and ahead of an average analyst estimate of $106 billion, according to Refinitiv Eikon.
The surge in Aramco’s share price on Sunday moved its market valuation above that of Microsoft, though it remains behind Apple on $2.68 trillion.
Aramco Chief Executive Amin Nasser told a call about the firm’s earnings there had been no impact from attacks on its supply to customers.
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group fired missiles and drones at Saudi energy and water desalination facilities, causing a temporary drop in output at a refinery but no casualties, the Saudi energy ministry said on Sunday.
In Qatar, the index lost 0.5%, snapping two sessions of gains, hit by a 1.1% fall in the Gulf’s largest lender Qatar National Bank.
Outside the Gulf, Egypt’s blue-chip index finished 2.3% higher, with most stocks in the index in positive territory including top lender Commercial International Bank which climbed 3.9%.
Egypt, often the world’s top wheat importer, plans to set a fixed price for unsubsidised bread for three months, supply minister Ali Moselhy said in an interview with local television on Sunday.
The government has taken several steps to protect wheat supplies since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which largely cut off shipments from Egypt’s two top suppliers and left the North African country scouting for alternative exporters.
SAUDI ARABIA rose 0.8% to 12,876
QATAR lost 0.5% to 13,330
EGYPT added 2.3% to 10,974
BAHRAIN was up 0.5% to 1,976
OMAN traded flat at 4,315
KUWAIT was flat at 8,690.
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