Saudi Arabia stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Telecoms & IT, Financial Services and Agriculture & Food sectors led shares higher. At the close, the Tadawul All Share rose 2.02%. The best performers of the session on the Tadawul All Share were Saudi Telecom, which rose 9.75% or 5.75 points to trade at 64.75 at the close. Meanwhile, Alinma Tokio Marine Co added 6.44% or 1.15 points to end at 19.00 and Al Sagr Co-operative Insurance Co was up 4.45% or 1.30 points to 30.50 in late trade. The worst performers of the session were Saudi Research and Marketing Group, which fell 4.81% or 1.25 points to trade at 24.75 at the close. Saudi market declined 1.55% or 1.00 points to end at 63.50 and Filing & Packing Materials Co. was down 1.46% or 0.60 points to 40.40. Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Saudi Arabia Stock Exchange by 141 to 25. Crude oil for December delivery was down 1.12% or 0.49 to $43.72 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in January fell 0.35% or 0.17 to hit $47.93 a barrel, while the December Gold contract fell 0.08% or 0.90 to trade at $1087.60 a troy ounce. The Saudi index climbed 2.0 percent to 7,128 points, bouncing from near chart support on its August low of 6,921 points. It was the biggest rise since early September. Saudi Telecom surged its 10 percent daily limit in its highest turnover since February. The company said it planned to pay a minimum quarterly dividend of 1 riyal per share for three years from the fourth quarter of 2015. Mobily, another telecommunications firm, rose 3.8 percent in sympathy and Atheeb Telecom surged 4.0 percent. The Egyptian index ended only 0.3 percent lower, after tumbling 9.5 percent over the past three days because of fears of a currency devaluation or an interest rate hike. Meanwhile, oil prices resumed their decline on Wednesday, with global crude oversupply still dampening investors' sentiment despite occasional rallies. Prices had risen the previous day after a four-day losing streak, as traders weighed a price outlook from the International Energy Agency (IEA) and a lowered US estimate for crude production. Oil prices have collapsed by more than half since mid-2014 with prices languishing under $50 a barrel, hurt by the supply glut and the decision by oil exporter grouping OPEC to maintain output to counter booming US shale production. The Paris-based IEA, in a report Tuesday, forecast that oil prices would recover to $80 a barrel by 2020. At around 1200 GMT Wednesday, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for delivery in December was trading 52 cents lower at $43.69 a barrel. Brent North Sea crude for December was down 21 cents at $47.23 a barrel. A strong dollar, fuelled by widening expectations that the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates next month, has also been keeping a lid on prices. Oil is traded in dollars and a buoyant US currency would make the commodity more expensive for those holding weaker units, lowering demand and prices. Stock indexes are edging slightly higher in early trading, but retailers were held back as Macy's turned in disappointing results. Several global beer makers were higher Wednesday after AB InBev, which makes Budweiser, said it had finalized the terms of a takeover of SABMiller. The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 32 points, or 0.2 percent, to 17,790 as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained three points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,085. The Nasdaq composite rose six points, or 0.1 percent, to 5,088. Bond prices didn't move much. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note held steady at 2.34 percent. — SG/Agencies
