Saudi Arabia stocks were higher after the close on Sunday, as gains in the Media & Publishing, Cement and Financial Services sectors led shares higher. At the close, the stock benchmark Tadawul All Share Index gained 0.82% to hit a new 52-week high. The best performers of the session on the Tadawul All Share were Saudi Research and Marketing Group, which rose 10.68% or 3.15 points to trade at 32.65 at the close. Meanwhile, Saudi Printing & Packaging Company added 9.79% or 1.42 points to end at 15.92 and Saudi Arabian Mining Company was up 8.15% or 4.00 points to 53.10 in late trade. The worst performers of the session were The Company for Coop. Insurance, which fell 4.55% or 4.70 points to trade at 98.50 at the close. Saudi Ground Services Co declined 2.56% or 1.15 points to end at 43.85 and Emaar The Economic City was down 2.30% or 0.36 points to 15.32. Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Saudi Arabia Stock Exchange by 114 to 50 and 15 ended unchanged. Shares in Saudi Arabian Mining Company rose to all time highs; rising 8.15% or 4.00 to 53.10. Crude oil for August delivery was up 3.12% or 1.40 to $46.33 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in September rose 2.83% or 1.35 to hit $48.98 a barrel, while the August Gold Futures contract fell 0.27% or 3.32 to trade at $1242.48 a troy ounce. Meanwhile, the Qatari stock index sank as much as 3.1% on Sunday, bringing its losses to 11.9% since June 5, when Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic and trade ties, accusing Doha of backing terrorism. Oil rose for a seventh straight session on Friday on a declining US rig count and stronger demand data from China, while US equities mostly rebounded to end a volatile week on an up-beat, helped by a double-digit jump in Nike shares. US crude futures settled up $1.11 at $46.04 a barrel, the first close above $46 in two weeks. Benchmark Brent crude futures rose 50 cents to settle at $47.92 a barrel. Both benchmarks ended the first half with declines of more than 14 percent, the largest drop since Brent and US crude fell about 19 percent in the first half of 1998. — SG/Agencies
