Saudi Arabia’s stock market recouped earlier losses to end higher on Monday, led by gains in financial shares, rising to a six-year high with the total trades amounting to $4.32 billion (SAR 15.9 billion).

 

This is the second consecutive day the Kingdom’s stocks have risen, with the benchmark Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) rising 0.3 percent, or 23 points, to 9,374 points, registering the highest close since 2015.

 

Shares of financial institutions Al Rajhi Bank rose 2 percent and Samba Financial Group climbed 1.4 percent.

 

According to Bloomberg, stocks in the Kingdom have surged 7.9 percent this year, extending gains with oil prices and after an attack on a Saudi oil facility late on Sunday boosted prices. That has pushed the Tadawul index to 19 times its estimated earnings, about 28 percent higher than the MSCI EM Index.

 

Oil prices, a key catalyst for the Gulf region’s financial markets, climbed above $70 a barrel for the first time since the start of the coronavirus crisis.

 

Saudi shares had eased earlier in the day following reports that Yemen’s Houthi forces fired drones and missiles at the Kingdom’s oil industry on Sunday, including a Saudi Aramco facility at Ras Tanura.

 

Riyadh called the attack a failed assault on global energy security.

 

Last week, investors were surprised that the Kingdom had decided to maintain its voluntary cut of 1 million barrels per day through April even after the oil price rally of the past two months as COVID-19 vaccination programs gained pace around the globe.