Saudi stocks soft in early trade as Q3 earnings released

Saudi Arabia’s stock market was slightly softer in early trade Wednesday because of weak petrochemical shares, while some second-tier stocks moved in response to third-quarter earnings.

Top petrochemical producer Saudi Basic Industries edged down 0.3 percent. A strong rebound in the stock has stalled in the past couple of days after oil prices fell back.

This pushed the Saudi equity index down 0.3 percent in the opening minutes of Wednesday to 7,752 points, retreating further from technical resistance at 7,812-7,953 points, its highs in September and at the end of August.

Jazan Development gained 1.8 percent after saying its third-quarter net profit more than doubled from a year earlier.

But National Company for Glass Industries sank 4.0 percent after reporting a 63 percent plunge in quarterly profit.

source: Reuters